Grumm's Reaper
by Sabari
Summary: A new Ranger on B-Squad who has a history with Bridge may spell disaster for the team. Non-slash, non-pairing. Technically AU, I suppose.
1. Chapter 1 - Meet Your New Teammate

_A/N: I wrote this story on days when I didn't feel like working on my novel, meaning that I wanted to write, but was in no condition to produce anything especially good. This story IS complete, but hasn't been fully uploaded. As per usual, I will be uploading a chapter per day as a rule, trying to give notice if anything is out of the ordinary. This was written for my entertainment, and is being published for yours. If you find yourself not enjoying it, then you should feel perfectly free to stop reading. __Heap praise or criticism upon it, whichever may suit you best. Or say nothing about it at all, if you would prefer.  
_

_This story is set prior to the episode "Perspective". Non-slash, non-pairing. Probably AU (it had been a long time since I watched _Power Ranger: SPD_ when I wrote this)._

_Updated to correct spelling and punctuation._

* * *

Bridge woke up with a headache. That wasn't especially uncommon for him. Usually it was gone by the time he ate breakfast. He didn't tend to think much about his morning migraines, taking them as a matter of course. He'd always had them, and it didn't occur to him that not everybody did. This notion that it was normal had been cemented by sharing a room with Sky, who seemed to find mornings to be a painful experience. Morning was the only time Sky didn't have his wall up.

Not the energy one that protected him from physical harm. But the emotional wall he put up to defend himself from the unkind world around him. First thing in the morning, for just a few minutes, Sky was vulnerable. Bridge understood that. Nobody could be strong all the time. For Sky, it was that time between rolling out of bed and getting into uniform.

Sky was already up, Bridge must have slept in. They'd been up late the night before, fending off another onslaught of Grumm's troops. Sky, best Bridge could tell, was immune to sleep deprivation. The rest of the team was probably still struggling their way to consciousness, hitting the snooze button on their alarm clocks as many times as they could get away with.

Bridge didn't feel like getting up. He seriously considered just rolling over and going back to sleep. The battle last night had been embarrassing. And painful. Well, more so than usual. Just when he'd convinced himself that more sleep was the winning strategy, his alarm went off. Was it for the first time?. Or had he hit snooze a few times?.

He reached over and grabbed the clock. Hitting the snooze button also turned on a light in the clock so he could see the time.

"That's funny," he whispered to himself "it's four in the morning."

His alarm was set for six thirty.

He looked over at Sky's bunk. It was occupied by Sky, as one would expect this early.

"Did I just dream it was morning and wake myself up?" Bridge wondered.

He put the clock down and started to roll over. One thing he hadn't dreamed was his headache. That was still very much with him. Maybe more sleep would help. But no matter how much he tossed and turned, he couldn't get back to sleep. Except he apparently did, because the next thing he knew, his alarm was going off. For real this time.

And Sky was up. Also for real this time. His uniform was gone from its hanger, and the bed was neatly made. Bridge always wondered how Sky managed to be so quiet. And how he got up without an alarm. It was a mystery which would probably never be solved. Bridge had accepted that some time ago.

Bridge set his clock down and picked up the gloves he left on the nightstand. They were the gloves he wore all day. Every day. But they weren't exactly comfortable, so at night he switched them for something softer, but less practical to use during the day.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself. This wouldn't do anything to help his headache. He quickly pulled off one mitten, then the other. It was fully impossible to put a glove on while wearing something distantly related to an oven mitt. For just a moment, he was half-blinded by flashes of information about everything around him. He had to struggle with his objective, putting the gloves on. It was hard enough to focus first thing in the morning without the added "assistance" of his powers.

Gloves on, he sort of fell out of bed and crawled over to his uniform. He put it on in an automatic fashion, long habit doing the thinking for him. That accomplished, he headed out into the hallway, hoping not to meet anyone before he made it to the fridge and a much needed glass of orange juice. Or possibly some toast. Yes, toast would be good right now. Especially with butter. Butter was good.

He took another deep breath, squared his shoulders, and set off down the hall.

His SPD training allowed him to look alert even though he was still half-asleep. Bluffing was half the battle sometimes. Feigning confidence when you didn't have any. Pretending you knew what you were doing when you really hadn't a clue. Never show the enemy your weakness, because they will exploit it. The ability to do that began with training, which included looking calm and collected at all times, even first thing in the morning.

He found Sky already in the kitchen area, eating his own breakfast with the sort of mechanical precision that comes only with intense practice. And from not really being awake yet. Sky was running on autopilot too this morning.

"Morning, guys!" Bridge flinched inwardly at the unwonted enthusiasm cutting into his morning fog.

Boom was the truest morning person who had ever existed. He made all other morning people look like they were still asleep. He also seemed utterly oblivious to the fact that nobody on the SPD B-Squad shared his absolute love of those first few minutes of the day.

"Hi, Boom," Bridge managed to smile and look happy to see him.

Sky just sort of glared over his shoulder at Boom, then looked at Bridge. Bridge was so good at selling the "good morning" attitude that even Sky didn't realize he was faking it. Then again, Sky wasn't the sort of person who understood pretense. He was who he was, and the only pretending he did was that which he'd been taught by SPD. And it was doubtful that he understood that. Sky just went by the book, followed orders and got the job done. He didn't have to understand what he was being asked to do or why.

Lucky guy.

"What happened yesterday?" Boom asked, taking a seat next to Sky, who immediately leaned away.

It wasn't that he didn't like Boom. It was because, in the morning, Boom failed to use his "inside voice". The last thing a non-morning person wants to hear in the morning is an "outside voice".

"I hear it didn't go so well," Boom went on, oblivious, "Is everybody okay?"

"We're fine," Sky growled as Bridge answered with, "We won the fight. Technically. Nobody was seriously hurt. Or not lethally injured anyway. It was really just Jack."

"Jack?. What happened to him?" Boom asked.

Sky turned his glare from Boom to Bridge. His answer had been tailored specifically to avoid further questioning, in the hopes that Boom would simply go away. But Bridge just had to bring _that_ up.

"He's fine," Sky replied before Bridge could answer, "he just broke his arm, that's all."

"That's all!? That's _all_!?" Boom exclaimed, causing even Bridge to flinch.

His headache was persisting, and the rising volume of Boom's voice wasn't helping. With forefinger and thumb, he pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping that might somehow relieve the pressure in his head. But it didn't, so he drank some orange juice to avoid having to talk.

"He can't go into the field with a broken arm," Boom went on.

"We know that," Sky growled patiently, "It's fine. We can handle it."

"Without Red Ranger?" Boom asked, "I mean, no offense, you guys are awesome but... without Red Ranger?"

"Please stop talking," Sky said, his voice calm but with an edge to it.

That edge suggested that he was currently actively imagining bashing Boom's head through a wall and also having trouble finding any fault with that vision except perhaps the considerable noise it would make.

"Just four of you?" Boom failed to take the hint, "without Jack?"

"Boom," Bridge cut in, "don't you have something you should be doing? Like... not talking to Sky in the morning?"

Boom stopped speaking mid-sentence, and blinked thoughtfully. As though suddenly aware of the danger, he quietly got up and left the room, making whispered excuses as to why he was leaving.

"He's right, you know," Sky said after about ten minutes, having eaten all of his breakfast in that time.

"Yeah..." Bridge replied absently, then added, "About what?"

"Four B-Squad cadets, against the whole of Grumm's army. It'll be weeks, at least, before Jack's ready for a real fight again," Sky answered.

"Oh that," Bridge shrugged "I wouldn't worry. We've already accomplished the impossible. Or what was said to be impossible. Or at least highly improbable. Or anyway-"

"I get it, Bridge. You can stop."

"Right. Anyway. What I meant was... we've gotten this far. Who's to say how far we can go? Besides, it's not like we have a choice. I mean, unless we just let Grumm take over, abandoned our posts and... you know what... I'm gonna stop talking and... go away... now."

"You do that," Sky grunted.

Bridge's next stop was to visit Jack, who'd stayed in the hospital section of the base overnight, due to the nature of his injury. His arm had been broken when a Krybot hit him with a motorcycle, so it was possible that he'd sustained some sort of internal injuries in addition to the obvious. At the very least, he'd been knocked to the pavement and might have gotten more than a bruise on his head, even though that was all which could be seen.

It didn't surprise Bridge that Jack was already awake. Even taken off active duty, a Ranger was still a Ranger. Or something to that effect, anyway.

"You look... disturbed," Jack observed "What's up?"

"Hmm? Oh nothing. I mean, nothing you can help with. Or that should concern you. Or me, really. What I mean is-"

"Save it," Jack interrupted, "What's the matter?"

"It's stupid," Bridge protested "Besides, I came in here to see how you are. And you look... like you have a broken arm, actually. But aside from that, you seem... fine."

"I am. And I still have a good arm I can hit you with if you don't tell me what's on your mind."

The threat wasn't serious, but the implication was. Jack wasn't going to let Bridge off easy. This was mainly because he had learned, the hard way, that anything which concerned Bridge should not be ignored or taken lightly. Underneath that confused exterior was a brain which worked faster and perhaps better than any other Jack had encountered.

"It's just... something Boom said this morning. Or... well, actually I thought of it last night, but it was said..." here he broke off, collecting his thoughts, "Is it... alright that the team will work without you? That's not what I meant. What I meant was, is it... okay? Can we do that?"

"I'm not sure what you're asking. Is it alright with me? Yes, of course. It's not like B-Squad can be benched until I'm ready to get back in it."

"No, that's not... never mind," Bridge interrupting himself was more than a little unusual.

"You want to know if B-Squad will be alright without Red Ranger," Jack guessed, "you did fine before I arrived, and you've still got Z. And, anyway, it's you, Sky and Syd who have all the training. What do you think?"

Bridge opened his mouth to answer, but never said anything. Cruger's voice came over the wall-speaker, calling the SPD B-Squad, including Jack, to the command center.

Bridge waited for Jack to get into uniform and then the two went directly to the command center. Neither spoke, uncomfortably aware that something was up. And that Jack wasn't going to be with them on this one, whatever it was. All of them, even Sky (though he wouldn't admit it), had come to trust their leader and the idea of going into battle without him made them uneasy.

In addition to Kat and Cruger, there was one other person in the command center. Bridge halted in the doorway, preventing the door from automatically sliding closed. He recognized this person, a person he'd hoped- even believed -he would never see again.

"SPD B-Squad, for those of you who haven't met him, this is Callum Reese," Cruger said, with an eye directed at the thoroughly unsettled Bridge, "SPD's Black Ranger. In light of recent events, Commander Birdy thought the B-Squad could benefit from his services."

"New ranger. Sweet," Z commented.

"No," Bridge whispered in reply, but wasn't permitted to elaborate because Cruger did it for him.

"Callum Reese will be in charge of B-Squad during Cadet Landors' recovery."

The silence that followed was momentary. Then suddenly everybody seemed to be talking. Everybody except for Sky, Jack and Callum. Sky, standing formally at attention, did his best to keep his feelings on the matter to himself. Jack felt the shift in his reality so profoundly that he couldn't seem to think of anything to say. Some new guy, a perfect stranger, was being put in charge of _his_ Squad. How was he supposed to feel about that?. As for Callum, there was no guessing what was going on behind those dark blue eyes.

"That's enough!" Cruger shouted over the noise, and the clamor at once died away, "Now I know some of you may not like it, but the decision has been made. You'll just have to make the best of it," he paused, looking significantly at Jack, then added, "Dismissed."

Bridge was the first out of the room, but the others followed directly. The Rangers were going to reconvene in the common area, and they all had something on their minds. Bridge wanted to go directly to his room, but knew he dared not miss this second- if unofficial -meeting.

When everyone had arrived, it was Syd who fired the first shot.

"Jack! Why didn't you say something?"

"Me? What was I supposed to say?"

"Red Ranger can assign someone to command in their absence," Bridge volunteered quietly, "Because you didn't, Cruger had to take matters into his own hands."

"What? Sky isn't good enough for you?" Syd pushed, "I know you two don't get along, but don't you think this is taking it a bit too far?"

"I didn't do anything!" Jack protested.

"That's right, you didn't, Bridge spat, which was startling because he was usually the last to become angry.

Then he turned and left the room. He couldn't take it. His head was still hurting, and he couldn't stand being in the same room with Callum. He was going to go to his room, and stay there. Preferably for the next six weeks or so.

"Tough crowd," was Callum's first comment after Bridge left.

"Don't mind them," Sky replied quietly, "We've been through a lot together. A new face kinda sets us on edge. I'm sure you can understand that," he then followed Bridge's example and left.

"What's with them?" Jack asked aloud.

"Can't speak for Cadet Tate," Callum said, "but I'm pretty sure Carson still hates me."

"That's ridiculous," Z interjected, "Bridge doesn't hate anyone."

"You've got that wrong," Callum told her, "Carson and I... we've got some history. What? He never mentioned me to any of you? And here I thought you trusted one another."

He smirked, and then he too left the room, leaving only Jack, Syd and Z behind.

"Do you know him?" Jack asked of Syd.

"No. But Bridge has been with SPD longer than any of us. Callum must have done his training before we did, maybe they met then," Syd replied.

"He never mentioned Callum Reese?" Jack asked.

"Not to me. Maybe to Sky, I don't know. You'd have to ask him."


	2. Chapter 2 - History

Bridge wasn't surprised by the knock at the door. He sort of expected it to be Sky. Even though they shared a room, they tended to knock before entering if they suspected the other wanted to be left alone.

"Go away, Sky," he mumbled.

But the door slid open. Looking up, Bridge was startled to see Jack. Training kicked in and he scrambled up from where he'd been lying on his bed and was almost to his feet before Jack stayed him.

"At ease. I'm not here to give orders."

Bridge sat, and waited.

"I'm not much for tact, so I'm going to ask you straight out. What's the deal with Reese?" Jack asked, "Is it his aura? Something wrong with it?"

"No, it's not that," Bridge replied slowly, reluctantly, "We just have... history. That I'd rather not think about. Or talk about. Or even remember. Don't worry. It won't affect how I work with the other Rangers."

"Bridge, if something's bothering you, it's my job to know about it," Jack pressed.

"No it's not," Bridge reminded him gently, "Not right now. It's his job. And, for what it's worth, he already knows. And, like I said, it doesn't matter. Much."

"Bridge..." Jack spoke in a warning tone.

"I knew him back when we were in training together and we didn't get along, alright!?" Bridge practically yelled, turning away suddenly and staying silent until he managed to regain his normal laid-back demeanor, but it was a shaky facade at best, "Please, just... just drop it."

There was a moment of silence where they looked at one another, and Jack could see the pitiful, almost pained, pleading in Bridge's gaze, begging to just be left alone. Finally, he nodded.

"Sure... alright. I'll let it go," Jack sighed.

He stepped out of the room and closed the door after him. He'd been lying, of course. Bridge was like most of the Rangers, self-sacrificing, willing to give up not only his life, but his personal comfort as well in service of SPD. Jack couldn't just let it go, having seen that Bridge was so unhappy. But first he needed to find Sky, and somehow explain that he hadn't known he had to say he wanted Sky to serve in his absence. He'd taken it as a matter of course.

Sky was Blue of B-Squad, second in command. The responsibility of leadership ought to be his by default. What point was there in having rank if things like this could happen? Like many SPD regulations, Jack didn't understand it.

He soon located Sky standing just outside the base, staring into the distance at nothing in particular.

"Sky. I'm sorry," Jack began, but Sky interrupted him.

"It's fine. I get it. You don't have to try and explain why. I'm not a good leader. I get that. I'm just disappointed that you thought you had to lie about it," Sky turned to face him, thinly veiled fury and hurt behind his eyes, "to pretend like you didn't have anything to do with it. You think I'm that shallow? That I don't understand my place? Grow up, Jack. I don't need your kind of sympathy," he brushed past Jack and went inside.

Jack thought about pursuing him, but decided against it. It seemed unlikely that Sky would let him explain, or even believe him if he did. The next step then was to find Callum.

* * *

Jack found that Callum had returned to the common area and was sitting on the couch drinking a soda. His dark eyes darted as if he were reading something, but he wasn't holding a book. Maybe he was thinking about something.

Jack didn't see anything to immediately dislike about Callum. He was maybe two or three years older than Jack, with fair skin, blue eyes, short, spiked black hair, wearing a pair of black leather gloves and possessing some sort of accent Jack couldn't quite place. In fact, the only reason Jack didn't feel at ease near Callum was because Bridge obviously didn't like him. Bridge... well, Bridge liked everyone. Gentle and easy-going by nature, it was hard to imagine anyone could get under Bridge's skin like Callum evidently had.

"He wouldn't talk to you, huh," Callum spoke it as a statement rather than a question, somehow aware of Jack's presence without having to even bothered looking up, "Figures. He always did leave me to do the heavy lifting."

Shirking his duty didn't sound like Bridge. Aside from maybe Sky (and even then only maybe), Bridge was the most reliable person Jack had ever known. Even if he was a little strange and his methods of interacting with reality were a bit unorthodox.

"Have a seat, Red," Callum said, pointing to the chair opposite him, "I'll tell you whatever you'd like to know. Unlike Carson, I have no reason to keep secrets."

"How do you and Bridge know each other?" Jack asked, as it was the first question that came to mind.

"That one's easy. Carson and I were assigned as roommates back when I was in training. I graduated, but Carson was held back. More than once, truth be told."

"Why?"

"What can I say? The guy didn't take his studies seriously. Half the time he wasn't paying attention, and the other half he spent spewing the most random nonsense you've ever heard. Even on written exams, his answers didn't make any sense. It was like he wanted to get in trouble."

Jack decided to let that go, at least for now. He had more important questions. Best not get into an argument before he had his answers.

"So what's his problem with you?"

"Simple. We were roommates. I was top of every class. What do you think his problem was?"

"Jealous? Bridge? You're kidding," Jack said in disbelief.

"Nope. I tried being friends with him, but you can't be friends with a whack job. Before you say anything, I get it, he's got these out-of-control powers. Fine, cool. But talking to him was like trying to carry on a conversation with a piece of cheese."

Jack shifted uncomfortably and had to bite his tongue to keep from saying anything.

"So we never got along. And it got worse with every test I aced. Carson's seriously mental. He couldn't handle the pressure. In fact, I'm surprised he hasn't been returned to whatever institution they found him in."

Jack almost did a double-take. At first, he thought Callum had flung another insult, but there was something in the way he said it. Like he wasn't kidding. Reading Jack's expression, Callum broke into an amused grin.

"They didn't tell you, did they? Then again, why would they? Working with a person you think is crazy is so different from knowing it for a fact, isn't it? Still, I would have thought that you, Red Ranger, at least, would have been told," Callum smiled, "Strange nobody said anything, isn't it?"

* * *

"Do you really think bringing Reese on to B-Squad was a good idea?" Kat asked, "You know what happened during his training."

"It wasn't my decision," Cruger replied evenly, "Aside from which, he's a Ranger now. That means he lives by a different code."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Experience. You don't become a Ranger by behaving like a child. And you do not survive as long as he has by breaking the rules. Remember, Callum Reese was being evaluated before A-Squad disappeared. He had qualified to join their ranks. That's not nothing."

"I read the file, Doggie," Kat said gently, "But you and I both know that what's on paper may not necessarily be real."

"I am aware of that fact. If it had been my choice, I would have picked another, considering his history with Cadet Carson. But I did not have that luxury."

"Right," Kat nodded, "I guess we'll just have to trust that he won't give us any trouble."

"Indeed."

* * *

Bridge, meanwhile, was trying to convince himself of what he'd already promised Jack. He had to get a handle on his emotions, and keep them in check. He had to remember that things had changed. He wasn't the same person as he'd been years ago, and Callum probably wasn't either.

Back then, Bridge had just been learning how to use his powers. He'd been just starting to try and live in the real world. He'd found it confusing at first, almost impossible to deal with. Just surviving one day to the next had seemed a major accomplishment to him.

Before his special gloves, he hadn't been able to handle public situations. Truth be known, even talking to a single person in an isolation cell had been almost more than he could manage. He'd tried to control his power, he really had. But, unlike the rest of B-Squad, he had no command over his powers. They worked as well as they liked, and when they liked.

Seeing Callum had brought back unpleasant memories. He hadn't fit in. He'd been completely socially awkward, he'd had no understanding of how to interact with people. He'd been nothing more than a scared kid, trying to make his way through a world that not only didn't understand him, but made absolutely no attempt to accept him for who and what he was.

There'd been nobody to support him for the first few years. Because of his unique and incredible powers, the SPD officials wouldn't let him go and try to live a normal life. He'd had the choice of living in a padded room for the rest of his days or training to become a Ranger. He'd never had a real choice. At least, not then. In fact, nobody had even helped him design the original gloves he'd worn. He'd built them himself. They were clunky, and didn't work as well as what he had now, but they'd gotten the job done. Sort of.

Time and again, he'd failed tests and training. He couldn't juggle trying to coexist with other human beings, working with substandard gloves and taking tests all at the same time. It was too much for him. But he refused to quit for one reason: it was better than being locked away. These had been dark times for him, and Callum had done nothing to make things better.

In fact, nobody had. Not until Cruger found him, and took a strange sort of interest in him. It was Cruger who convinced him to transfer. With the help of Kat Manx, Bridge designed better gloves. He was permitted to work on his own initially, without the distraction of other people. More than that, he had been given a sense of purpose, an actual desire to become a Ranger, and not just avoid a glorified jail cell.

In this new environment, and with a lot of help, he managed to do what before had seemed hopelessly impossible. He was eventually placed with Sky and Syd in training to become a member of B-Squad. At first, he'd been somewhat afraid of them, intimidated by how much they seemed like... well... normal people.

But they were different, he soon realized. Unlike the rest of the world, they took him for what he was. Maybe it was because they too had strange powers that they didn't initially understand or know how to control. At first, they had been like Bridge. Their out-of-control powers made them freaks, and nobody had ever tried to help them. The only difference was that they could control their powers now. Bridge... well... Bridge still couldn't. He'd learned to live with that.

Some days, he could even forget that he was so different, even from the rest of B-Squad. Some days, he almost felt like he fit in with them. And that was enough for him. More than he ever could have imagined he'd have all those years ago.

And now... now Callum was back, reopening old wounds. Reminding him that he was somehow less than everyone around him. That he couldn't control his power. That his power was useless for fighting, even if he could control it. That he wasn't really good enough to wear the uniform.

The worst part of it was, Bridge wasn't sure if he was remembering Callum unfairly. Of all the people he'd known back then, Callum stood out as the worst. But was that just because they shared a room? Probably. And, even if it wasn't, Callum was a Ranger now. He couldn't be the same person now that Bridge remembered him as being then.

Unfortunately, Bridge wasn't given much time to come to terms with it. An alarm went off, alerting those at the base that Grumm had set up another attack. Bridge knew what that meant. It meant going up to the command center, standing in line with Callum, and then going into battle beside him.

He could do that. He had to do that. How hard could it be?

* * *

It looked like the regular line up of Krybots at first. But the B-Squad had learned better. Nothing was ever simple and straight-forward with Grumm. He always had something extra planned. At the first, Black Ranger seemed to fit in with the Squad as well as if he'd been there since the beginning.

His orders were clear, sensible and delivered swiftly. His experience showed once the fighting started. He'd been a Ranger much longer than any of the others. As promised, Bridge had left his feelings in his room at the base, and didn't let what he thought of Black Ranger interfere with doing his job.

Sky too had left his wounded pride at home.

Everything was going just fine. Until _it_ showed up. Black smoke seeped from beneath a dark cloak, dead eyes glared from behind a shadowy hood. Skeletal hands protruded from over-sized sleeves. It looked like... well... the Grim Reaper.

It flew out of nowhere, hitting Black Ranger from the side, knocking him to the ground. Green Ranger, the closest, moved to assist without hesitation. The Reaper seemed to sense him coming at it from behind, and turned to engage. At first contact Green Ranger knew he was outmatched on his own.

Black Ranger got to his feet at the same time as Blue Ranger came to Green Ranger's aid. Blue Ranger was faster, but still not fast enough. The Reaper knocked Green Ranger casually aside and lashed out at Blue Ranger. Blue Ranger rolled with the hit, falling to the pavement, then flipping back to his feet beyond the range of his adversary. Black Ranger followed through now that the other Rangers were clear, opening fire on the Reaper.

The Reaper raised a boney hand and opened it, revealing a glowing blue orb at the center of its palm. The blaster fire seemed drawn to this orb, and was absorbed by it, disappearing in bright flash of light. An instant later, a silver blade sprang from the center of the glow, flying right for Black Ranger's head.

"Watch out!" Green Ranger knocked Black Ranger aside, but wasn't fast enough to get himself clear.

An explosion of sparks ignited and Green Ranger fell back. He rolled across the ground, unmorphing as he did so. The Reaper, seeing Bridge was totally exposed, went right for him before the others had time to react. Smoke billowed out from under its robes as it swept forward like a grotesque phantom. It was knocked off course by a kick from Black Ranger.

"Be more careful, Carson!" Black Ranger snapped before moving to engage the enemy a second time, "Blue, you're with me."

Blue Ranger was really his only option. Pink and Yellow were preoccupied with the Krybots, of which there seemed to be an unlimited number. Blue Ranger hesitated for a moment, glancing at Bridge.

"I'm fine," Bridge told him, which seemed to be enough for Blue to fall in with Black Ranger.

Without instruction, Blue Ranger fell automatically into a standard formation, drifting away from Black Ranger so that there was a Ranger on either side of the target. Black Ranger went in first, a heartbeat faster than Blue anticipated. A heartbeat was all the time in the world.

The Reaper countered, using a blast of energy to drive Black backwards, then turned to deal with Blue. Blue was too close to be simply flung back. The Reaper caught him by an arm, twisted and spun him, then threw its smaller adversary to the ground. A blast of energy followed, and Blue was flung into the air and back. When he hit the ground, there was an audible crack.

"Sky!"


	3. Chapter 3 - Run It Down

"Sky!"

The outcry acted as a spur, raising the pitch of the battle. Pink Ranger and Yellow Ranger sped up their attacks, desperate to finish the fight quickly so they could see if their friend was hurt. Black Ranger was unable to immediately reengage the Reaper. In pushing him out of danger, Blue had given the Krybots space enough to interpose themselves between Black and the Reaper.

That left Blue lying on the ground, and Bridge essentially weaponless. His Deltamax Striker would fire an energy blast, which the Reaper had proven that it could absorb. But a Ranger doesn't need equipment to defend themselves. Bridge had known that long before anyone had tried to teach it to him. The others relied heavily on their powers when they didn't have tools to draw on. But Bridge had never had that advantage as his power wasn't useful for offense or defense. He had always been forced to use his wits.

Left to his own devices, he might have hesitated to actually fight the Reaper on his own. But Blue was down, and the Reaper would surely destroy him if nothing was done to prevent that. And so Bridge went right for it. The Reaper was once again faster, but Bridge had anticipated this. Instead of lunging directly, he feigned an attack, dodged, and then struck from the side before getting clear.

He barely escaped injury as the clawed hand raked down on him, slicing the arm of his jacket to ribbons. But Bridge himself was unharmed, at least for the moment. Instead of moving in again, he took a moment to replay the last few seconds in his head.

His initial strike had done exactly what was necessary. It had turned the Reaper's attention to him and away from his downed teammate. The question now was, could he win, or did he just need to hold out until one of the other Rangers could assist him?

A moan distracted him. Blue was rolling onto his stomach and getting to his hands and knees, shaking his head slowly. Bridge felt relief, but then realized he was in trouble. The Reaper had noted his lapse of attention and taken instant advantage.

Raising a hand, it showed the blue orb in its palm, which glowed faintly, then more and more brightly. From inside the orb there came another silver blade, which spun through the air like an arrow. Bridge didn't have time to get clear. But he did manage to protect his neck with one hand. The blade pierced through his glove, straight into the center of his palm.

Bridge cried out involuntarily and staggered at the combined pain and force of impact. The Reaper closed the distance between them in a heartbeat and took hold of the exposed end of the blade. Twisting it, the Reaper drove Bridge to his knees. But it was more than the blade that caused him to cry out in anguish.

The hole in the glove, as well as his hand, exposed him directly to the aura of the Reaper. Bridge's eyes went wide as his power activated, amplified a hundred fold by his adrenaline and The Reaper's evil aura and immense power. He found himself being drawn into The Reaper's mind, his thoughts being drowned in the darkness of The Reaper's very soul.

"Let him go!"

For once, Blue didn't quote the rule book. He was direct and to the point, leaping at his adversary without real warning. He followed through with a raised knee to the Reaper's face, assuming the thing had one somewhere inside that hood. The Reaper staggered back with an ear-splitting wail and Blue took up a position between it and Bridge. Seeing that most of the Krybots had gone down and that soon the rest of the Rangers would be upon it, the Reaper chose to flee. With an angry hiss, it turned and ran.

"Blue!" Black Ranger shouted, holding several Krybots at bay, "Run. It. Down."

Blue nodded, turned and took off after the Reaper.

"Wait! Stop!" Bridge cried out, staggering to his feet, "No, no!"

But Blue was already gone and there was no way that Bridge could even possibly catch up. So he stood staring after Blue while the rest of the Rangers dispatched the remaining Krybots. Then he turned on Black, anger unmistakable in his eyes.

"What the Hell were you thinking!?" Bridge demanded, eyes bright with barely contained fury, cradling his injured hand with his good one.

"What is your problem, Carson?" Black growled, turning on him heatedly.

"You shouldn't have sent Sky after that thing!" Bridge shouted, "Didn't you hear that cracking sound earlier?"

"What about it?" Black asked impatiently.

"That was his radio, genius."

"So?"

"So? _So?_ Now you can't call him off," Bridge retorted furiously.

"And that's a problem because?..."

"Because he can't catch the Reaper," Bridge snapped angrily.

He turned his attention to the blade in his hand, trying to reclaim his sense of calm. His hands were shaking, his thoughts whirling.

"So he'll lose the thing and come back, big deal," Black shrugged with maddening indifference.

"No. No he won't," Pink Ranger said before Bridge could think of a retort, "Sky follows SPD regulations to the letter. You gave him a direct order. He won't stop until he carries it out, you stop him... or..."

"Or he dies trying," Bridge finished, then pulled the knife out of his hand, biting back a yelp of pain as he did so, "Real good leadership there, Cale," he threw the knife down and it clattered to the ground.

"What? It's your job to tell me stuff like that!"

"No," Pink Ranger flew at once to Bridge's defense, getting between him and Black Ranger, "It's not. It's your job to know. You're the leader of B-Squad."

"_Rangers!"_ Cruger interrupted over the radio, _"Who's at fault can wait. Come back to base at once."_

"Commander, what about Sky?" Yellow Ranger asked.

"_We'll discuss that when you get back."_

* * *

"Isn't there a way to track them, or at least track Sky?" Jack asked.

"No. There's a tracking chip in the radio, which was broken," Kat explained, "The best I can do is try to find them with cameras. But if they've left the populated areas, there's no way to find them."

"Another fine mess caused by SPD regulations," Jack grumbled, shooking his head in disgust.

"It's not the manual's fault," Kat disagreed, "It's about how the rules are implemented, not the rules themselves. Reese made a mistake, it happens."

"Yeah well, _I_ never got anybody killed with _my_ mistakes," Jack said.

"Don't count Cadet Tate out just yet," Cruger told him, "We're assuming he can't achieve his objective, and we may be underestimating him."

"No. We're not," it was Bridge who said this as B-Squad filed into the command center.

"You know something about this alien?" Jack demanded, turning towards him.

"Only what I felt from it," Bridge replied, his voice unusually subdued and very small and quiet, "And it was not good. It was... very, very bad. Extremely-" he broke off, biting his lower lip to keep it from quivering, his eyes looking from face to face unhappily.

"Let me see that," Kat broke in, taking Bridge's wrist and turning it so she could see his palm.

"I'm okay," Bridge said, but everybody could see by his face and voice that he was lying.

Everyone could tell he was in no small amount of pain.

"So he got stabbed in the hand. Big deal," everyone, that is, except Callum.

"Yes. It is a big deal," Kat hissed, "Bridge, come with me. Right now."

She didn't wait for a reply, or permission from Cruger, propelling Bridge from the room.

"What?" Callum asked.

"Cadet Carson reads energy through his hands," Cruger said.

"Yeah, so?"

"It's a power he does not have control over."

"Hence why he's always wearing gloves," Jack put in, then added before turning to leave, "And now there's a hole in his glove."

"Not to mention his hand," Syd said, turning and following Jack.

Z went with them, leaving Callum and Cruger standing alone in the command center.

* * *

"Really, I'm fine," Bridge insisted.

"No, you're not. Stop arguing with me," Kat retorted, "and hold still."

Gently, she pulled off the damaged glove and put it aside. She could see the change in Bridge's face immediately. Even damaged, the glove had kept Bridge's power semi-contained, limiting his exposure to energies. Normally, he would only run his hand over a very specific object, then put his glove back on. It had taken him time to learn how to do it just right, so that he didn't get overwhelmed by unwanted information.

But with an open wound, as well as an open glove, there was no telling what he was picking up. It was clearly difficult for him to try and ignore it all. Kat wasn't sure Bridge was actually hearing what she was saying. Maybe he was ignoring her, maybe he wasn't hearing her.

He had his eyes closed and was biting his lip so hard she was afraid he'd make it bleed.

"Sit," she said, and when he didn't do as she asked, she half-guided and half-pushed him into a chair.

Frankly, she was surprised he'd held it together all the way back to base. She bandaged the wound as quickly as she could and then turned to the damaged glove. It wouldn't do Bridge much good now. Thinking quickly, she began to look through the drawers and cabinets.

"It's not running away," Bridge said, opening his eyes and staring past Kat at the wall, "Evil never runs away."

"What?" Kat asked distractedly, responding solely to keep Bridge talking, and not really listening.

"Grumm's Reaper wants to be chased. That was the plan, all along. All along," his voice shook.

Kat wasn't listening, but the rest of the Rangers were, having just arrived to see if Bridge was okay. They halted in the doorway, but didn't interrupt. Bridge didn't seem aware of them, slowly swaying from one side to the other in his seat.

"True evil never runs. Bad people run. Bad people hide. Evil only lurks. Evil always plots. Evil lies in wait. Plan... it was the plan... all along," his brow furrowed as he tried to form what was in his head into words, "He can't catch the Reaper."

"Here," Kat sighed with relief.

She'd found one of Bridge's old gloves. It wouldn't be as good as what he was used to, but it would have to do for the time being.

"Put this on," when Bridge didn't seem to hear her, she took his hand gently and did it for him.

It took a few seconds, but his eyes cleared somewhat and he looked at Kat as though seeing her for the first time. Then he looked around the room and noticed the rest of B-Squad, minus Callum, in the doorway.

"He'll be okay," Kat said, seeing their worried faces.

But that didn't clear their expressions. Instead, Jack stepped forward until he was standing right in front of Bridge. His face was very serious.

"What were you just talking about?" he asked, his tone caught between authority and gentleness.

"Hmm?" Bridge blinked thoughtfully, then his face darkened, "Sky can't catch Grumm's Reaper."

"Why not?" Jack demanded.

"Jack-" Kat began, but he put up a hand to silence her.

"Why not?" He repeated, harshly shaking Bridge by the shoulder, noticing that Bridge's attention was wandering.

"Because," Bridge replied distantly, "Grumm's Reaper... is going to catch _him._"

* * *

Blue Ranger had pursued the Reaper through shopping districts and parks, under overpasses and across streets. It hadn't been long before he lost direct line of sight with the Reaper, but it left a clear trail of blue-black smoke behind it. In spite of its speed, the Reaper wouldn't find it easy to elude Blue Ranger with that trail.

The other Rangers might not know it, but Blue had heard Bridge call out. He had considered heeding the warning, but decided against it. He was already in bad with Jack somehow. He'd tried not to take that personally, he and Jack never got along. But the truth was that he didn't believe Jack did anything without reason. Not anymore. The issue, then, must be with Sky himself as a Ranger.

He wasn't about to add disobeying a direct order to the list of strikes against him, whatever they might be. He knew he hadn't always been the model of self-control, especially where Jack's orders were concerned. He probably deserved to be off B-Squad. Chances were, he was still on the team only because they were the last defense against Grumm's army and there weren't enough of them to afford losing a Ranger. But the arrival of Black Ranger might signal a change to all that.

Blue Ranger at last got a visual on the Reaper near a cliff overlooking the ocean. The Reaper stood at the edge, facing towards Blue. Smoke curled out from under the black robe, rising almost shoulder high and spreading in a dark circle around the Reaper.

Blue halted several yards away, suddenly wary. The Reaper had intentionally cornered itself. That meant only one thing. A trap, set for a Ranger. And Blue had walked right into it. He looked around, but the flat ground covered in short, sparse grass left nothing to the imagination. There weren't any hiding places for Krybots or anything else. It was just the Reaper, standing alone. Waiting. Waiting for him.

And yet, somehow, that didn't put Blue at ease.

He had known, even as he took off after the Reaper, that he didn't stand a chance. The earlier fight had been going badly, and that was with Blue, Black _and_ Green working together. He had known going in that this was a fight he could not win. But he'd hoped Black had a plan. He'd trusted to that.

And here he was, standing by himself. Bridge had been right. Long ago, when he'd talked about his former roommate, Sky had never paid much attention to him. Bridge said the guy couldn't be trusted. And here was the proof. Now Sky wished he'd listened more closely. But, in those days, he hadn't really bothered to understand Bridge. Just tolerate him. It was before they'd become friends.

"You... should not... have pursued..." the guttural, oily voice came from somewhere inside the dark hood of the Reaper.

"You assaulted SPD Rangers. That's against the law, you know," Blue countered, his voice steady, sure, "And now you're under arrest."

"And you," the Reaper hissed, "are going to die."

As it said this, the smoke to the Reaper's right seemed to suddenly thin out. Two glowing objects, like red lasers, peered from the gloom. A low growl reverberated through the air, and a large clawed foot that looked like a paw stepped out of the smoke, followed by a muscular black body. The red lasers turned out to be a pair of demonically flashing eyes set in a massive panther-like skull.

"Scared to fight me on your own?" Blue asked, his voice cold.

"This," the Reaper said, laying a boney hand on the beast's head, "is a monster of my own creation. It was designed for one purpose only."

Blue recalled to mind the silver blades which had materialized out of nowhere. Objects created using energy. And now... a smoke-based energy beast which looked like a cross between a wild cat and Cerberus. Blue had nothing which could compete with that.

"As I said," The Reaper purred, its voice rattling like an old car's engine, "You are going to die."

"Sure," Blue replied evenly, "but not today."

He then did something which went against every bit of his training, as well as his own nature. He turned, and ran. With a roar, the Reaper's beast flew after him, claws ripping tears into the soft earth as it sprang from its master's side in pursuit of the prey it had been created to hunt.


	4. Chapter 4 - Sense of Duty

"Okay, Sky's not an idiot, right? He knows his radio's broken. He'd try to leave clues for us to follow, wouldn't he?" Jack said, "So we need to think like Sky. What would he leave as a clue?"

"It would have to be something the camera's could see," Z pointed out, "Something we couldn't miss."

"If we were looking for it," Syd corrected.

They were at one of the secondary computer stations in the base. Kat was using the main one, but she wasn't having any luck. So the Rangers had taken it upon themselves to try and help find their teammate. Without Callum's help, naturally. It was his fault this was happening, and they were a long way from through being angry with him.

"Bridge, you know him better than anyone. Any suggestions?" Jack asked.

Bridge had been quiet up to now, leaning against a wall and sort of staring off into nothing.

"Huh? Oh. Right. Sky. The thing... with the claws... and the stuff.. yeah, that... um... no? I think that's right. No? Or maybe? I'm not... not really sure... what was the question again?"

"He's fried, Jack," Z said, not without sympathy, "Let him be. We'll figure this out."

"Alright. Yeah," Jack replied, turning from Bridge to the computer, "Let's start looking. Beginning with the last place we saw him. We'll go from there."

"Okay," Z was seated in front of the computer, and so she was the one who operated it.

Inputting a few commands, she brought up several security monitors which surrounded the scene of the earlier fight. Z, Syd and Jack all leaned in close, looking for the clue they had convinced themselves was there. Or at least, were trying to convince themselves was there.

Bridge seemed to be off in a world by himself. He shifted his gaze downward to look at his damaged hand with its substandard gray glove. He flexed his fingers, flinching when doing so put stress on the fresh wound just beneath the surface.

"I'm not seeing anything," Syd sighed after a minute.

"Expand the search," Jack ordered briskly, "There's got to be something."

"Jack, the wider the radius, the more cameras we get involved," Z said, even as she complied with the request, "We can't check them all in a reasonable amount of time."

"Then we'll just have to hope Sky's got a few tricks up his sleeve to help him stay alive long enough for us to find him," Jack told her.

"Find the smoking tiger," Bridge announced, looking up suddenly.

The other Rangers looked first at him, then each other, and then they shrugged, thinking the outburst sounded completely random and unrelated. They were accustomed to Bridge seeming a little peculiar, but they had also determined that he had been, as Z put it 'fried', so they did less than usual to try and understand what he was talking about.

Bridge winced and put a hand to his head, but nobody was looking at that point. A shudder ran through him, and then he forced his way between Jack and Z to get to the computer.

"Hey!" Z protested, but Bridge ignored her.

He flipped from one camera to another. He knew exactly what he was looking for, but he couldn't seem to explain it to anybody. And he knew that there wasn't time. He didn't know exactly how he knew that. He just did. It took him just over thirty seconds to find what he was looking for.

He transferred the image to a secondary screen, turning his attention directly to finding the next bit. Hopefully, the rest of the Rangers would pick up on it and help him, which would speed up the process.

"The smoke trail," Jack was the first to get it, "the Reaper left a smoke trail. Bridge, you're a genius!"

"There!" Syd spotted the next evidence of smoke.

"Wait, wait!" Z stopped Bridge before he went on, "there's less smoke there. Look in another direction. That's the way they came from."

"But..." Syd interrupted, "that camera is farther from where we fought the Reaper than this one."

"He's doubling back," Jack realized aloud, "Sky's going back to where he started. We have to tell Cruger! Come on!"

The Rangers practically ran from the room, all except Bridge, who remained leaning on the desk. He was dizzy and his head was pounding. Worse, he hadn't thought of the smoke trail. In his head, he had seen a creature born of smoke and ash. He had seen the Reaper's creation.

He looked at his hand again. Kat might think he was going to be fine, but Bridge knew the truth. The Reaper had somehow connected with Bridge. Inadvertently, it had told him everything it was planning. It had just taken him this long to process it. The question was, had the Reaper taken something from him? It had command over energy, surely it could read it as well. What secrets had he told it?

"This... this is bad," he said aloud to himself, "This is very bad."

* * *

Blue Ranger hadn't felt the need to leave any indication of where he'd gone, assuming that Black had a plan. And that the smoke trail was as clear as anything he might leave as evidence of his passing. But that had been a mistake, as he'd now realized. That left him only one logical solution: to return to his starting point and hope someone would come for him.

He could always try to lose the smoke-creature that was following him, but his sense of duty forbade that. He couldn't stay and capture the Reaper, but he could try to set the beast up to be caught in its stead. Maybe that would help somehow. He had no way of knowing.

He did feel badly that he couldn't carry out his instructions, like he'd failed at his assigned task. If by some miracle he survived this, he would get right back on the Reaper's trail. But the chances of that seemed slim-to-none seeing as he'd been sent out on his own with no backup.

He slid to a stop on reaching his destination. The area seemed abandoned, untouched even. There were still Krybots everywhere. Not even a clean up team had shown up yet. Blue did his best not to panic. He stood, trying to regain his breath and think clearly about what he should do next.

A high-pitch yowl caused him to turn just in time to see the Reaper's pet leaping for him. Electricity seemed to crackle through its fur as it came at him, paws outstretched, black claws reaching and mouth agape to reveal glistening silver saber teeth.

Blue dodged, but not quite fast enough. The wicked claws raked down his left arm. The suit which had protected him against every kind of attack while it was activated now sparked dangerously, and then tore. The claws pierced the material, slicing into Blue's arm. He cried out involuntarily.

In pulling to the side, he knocked the creature off balance. It staggered on landing, one vicious claw still hooked in the ranger's arm. Blue took the opportunity to give it a kick in the side before twisting free of its paws and gaining a few precious inches of distance between himself and the creature.

When he hit the creature, a puff of black ash flew up and the beast yowled, falling onto its side. At once it was back on its feet, hissing and lashing its whip-like tail furiously. Its eyes darted to Blue's helmet, then to his wound. Blood ran down his arm and dripped from his fingertips, originating from three deep slashes beginning at his elbow and continuing all the way down to his wrist.

The smell of blood seemed to further excite the beast and it prowled towards him eagerly, even as Blue backed away, keeping a careful distance from the animal (assuming that was the right term for this Hellbeast). He couldn't win against this Reaper-designed monster any more than he could win against the Reaper itself. But he could hold it off and survive until help arrived.

Assuming, of course, that help was coming at all.

* * *

"Ow!" Bridge yelped, breaking out of his trance-like state.

He had been left behind when the Rangers set out to rescue Sky, as had Jack. They were waiting in the command center, but Bridge had sort of fallen into a daze which he was now roughly yanked out of by a sudden pain in his side. It was there and gone so fast he thought he'd imagined it.

"You okay?" Jack asked.

"Yeah... as okay as I ever am. However okay that is..." Bridge answered quickly, his mind preoccupied by the momentary vision which had accompanied the pain. Everything had been shaded red, and it was strangely blurry, but he'd been sure he recognized where he was. He'd briefly seen Blue Ranger. And smelled blood.

He shook his head. His mind had been wandering, that was all. That had to be it.

"You sure?" Jack pressed, "You look a little pale."

"I'm fine. I'm always pale," Bridge insisted, but even to himself he sounded unsure, almost like he was asking a question instead of making a statement.

Jack nodded and didn't push him, but there was a look in his eyes that said he knew something was up with Bridge. Thing was, he had too much respect for Bridge to interrogate him on what might be going on in his head. Aside from which, Jack figured he wouldn't be able to understand even if Bridge tried to explain it to him. He'd learned that understanding Bridge was impossible. But respecting him, accepting him for what he was, standing by him and being his friend, that was doable.

The vision returned, like static on a radio, cutting jaggedly through reality, tearing a hole to another. Bridge flinched and grabbed onto the edge of the desk, shutting his eyes and trying to ride it out. Even with his eyes closed, he could still see through the thin veil of red, see the blood running, falling to the ground like rain. And then it was suddenly gone. The vision twisted to the sky, to the ground, around and around until Bridge felt sick with dizziness. He felt a pain in his head, like something had impaled him, and he gasped. Then it was gone, all of it. The room was real once more, and he was still standing in the command center. Nobody had noticed him this time.

They were all focused on what the camera was showing them.

* * *

Blue Ranger was fast, but his energy was not unlimited. Evading the claws of the smoke creature kept getting harder. It seemed to have a limitless supply of energy, as was evidenced by the crackle of blue electricity running through its fur and sparking in its red eyes.

He didn't even notice when the other Rangers arrived.

"What do we do?" Yellow wondered aloud.

Black Ranger looked from one person to another, then to the creature. For a moment, it seemed like he wouldn't answer. But then he nodded, apparently to himself.

"Lure it to the pond in Gentry Park. That's the closest source of water," Black told them.

Pink and Yellow exchanged bewildered glances, then Pink shrugged and sprang to draw the creature's attention. The shadowy Hell-cat whirled on her, jaws spread wide, teeth flashing. It narrowly missed her as she flipped backward. Yellow crossed in front of the creature and it leaped at her, seeming to forget Pink. Yellow darted away, but the creature was faster. Just when it seemed like it would leap on her, Black pitched in, striking the animal mid-flight in the shoulder with his knee, sending it sprawling.

"Blue, give us a hand!" Black shouted.

Blue hadn't heard the initial orders, but he could gather from observation what the objective was. When the cat regained its feet, smoke falling from it like so much dust, Blue hit it in the face and retreated quickly in the direction he had seen Pink and Yellow taking.

In this manner, taking turns at attacking and retreating, goading and pulling back, they lured the creature toward the pond. It took them only minutes. It was Black who made the final strike, firing a single shot at the beast's head, which didn't seem to wound it, but the impact knocked it into the water.

As Black had evidently guessed, the smoke-creature really was electricity based. The blue sparks kind of gave it away. It floundered in the water, smoke spewing upward and outward, a thin wail rising from its throat as it gave voice to the agony of its death. And then, quite simply, it exploded.

"Good work, team," Black said, holstering his weapon, "You okay, Blue?"

Blue didn't answer him, just glared from behind his helmet, holding his wounded arm with his good hand, trying to slow the bleeding. This ill-conceived rescue did nothing to dull the feeling of betrayal he felt. Or his own sense of failure. He'd been sent to catch the Reaper, and he'd failed. It had been impossible, and he resented Black Ranger for that. But he couldn't help but feel responsible in spite of that knowledge.

"We'll let the Reaper go for now," Black told them, "Right now, let's get Blue back home. Come on."

He offered Blue assistance, but was sharply rebuffed as Blue brushed past him. Yellow and Pink fell in on either side of Blue, glancing back at Black haughtily.

"Cute," Black hissed sarcastically under his breath, "Real cute."


	5. Chapter 5 - Air

"You really did a number on your morpher," Kat said, examining the damage to Sky's morpher.

"Sorry. Can you fix it?"

"With a little time," Kat replied, "Probably less time than it will take for that arm to heal," she nodded meaningfully at Sky's left arm.

The jacket for his uniform hid most of the damage, but the bandaging went all the way from his elbow to his hand. Getting the bleeding to stop had been the hardest part, and Kat had stressed that Sky was not to use that arm for anything for at least a few days unless he wanted to risk bleeding. That put him effectively out of commission as a Ranger for the time being.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Callum asked.

For once, his seemingly ever-ready smirk was wholly absent. He looked almost... humble. It didn't impress Kat one bit. She turned her emerald eyes on him indifferently, as if he were hardly worth noticing. Then she sighed, putting on an air of professionalism that was not reflected in her words.

"Just don't put anybody else out of commission," she hissed between her teeth.

"Ouch," Callum said briskly, hinting at his usual attitude.

Something in his tone must have set Kat off. Her eyes flashed angrily as she said:

"We don't have enough Rangers as it is! You were brought on specifically because we didn't have enough people to defend the Earth. Do you think this is some kind of _game_? You almost got Sky killed, or have you forgotten that already?"

"Easy, Kat," Sky recommended quietly, "We're all still here. It was Callum's quick thinking that got me out of that mess."

"It was his lack of foresight that got you in that mess to begin with," Kat retorted, but then reclaimed control of herself.

Stiffly, she turned back to her desk to work on repairing the morpher. Sky watched her, noting the subtle jerking of her hands as she worked, revealing that she was still angry. What he didn't notice was Callum looking at the both of them, dark eyes quietly contemplative.

* * *

"I don't like this," Z told Jack, "Callum's gonna get all of us killed."

"Z's right. He had no right to ask Sky to do what he did," Syd agreed.

"Yes. He did," this was said by Bridge, who was sitting off to the side and had seemed oblivious to the conversation up until now, "He was in charge, that meant it was his call to make."

"You're taking his side?" Syd demanded hotly, "I don't believe this. I thought you didn't like him."

"Bridge has it right," Jack broke in, "Sky wouldn't have done what Callum said if that weren't the case. Callum gave an order, Sky did his best to carry it out. But you two are also right. It was the wrong call, and Callum should have known better. I'm gonna talk to Cruger, get this straightened out."

"How?" Z asked, "Sky can't take over."

"No. But Bridge can," Jack nodded towards Bridge, who seemed to have tuned out of the conversation.

"You're kidding, right?" Syd asked, then added, gesturing to Bridge and adding as though Bridge couldn't hear her, "he's not in any condition to be giving orders. Are you completely insane?"

"It's either that or leave Callum in charge," Jack said harshly, "which would you prefer?"

Z and Syd looked at each other, and then at Bridge, then at each other again.

"Well?" Jack demanded.

"We're thinking," Z replied.

Jack opened his mouth as though to say something, but he never got the chance. Bridge suddenly went pale and got to his feet, looking around the room wildly as though he'd forgotten where he was.

"Bridge, what is it?" Jack asked, but didn't get an immediate response, "Talk to me, Bridge."

"It's here," Bridge whispered, still looking around like he didn't recognize anything around him, "It's not coming, it's already here."

"What? You're not making sense," Syd said, "What's here?"

"The Reaper. It's inside the base," Bridge answered distantly.

"How do you know?" Z asked at the same moment that Jack posed the much more important question of, "Where is it? Where in the base?"

Before Bridge could answer, assuming he was going to, an alarm went off and the emergency lights came on. An automated voice announced that there was a security breach, contamination in Lab 3. Lab 3 was being sealed off from the rest of the base.

"Lab 3? Lab 3!" Jack said, "That's where Kat and Sky are!"

The Rangers scrambled to their feet and ran from the common area, one right after the other. They found Cruger and Boom already at the observation window for Lab 3.

Inside Lab 3, Sky, Kat and Callum were looking around uneasily as black smoke filtered in through the multiple room vents. Electric snaps of blue lightning leaped from the expanding smoke, shorting out every device they touched in an alarming cascade of sparks accompanied by more smoke.

"This is bad. This is very, very... bad," Callum said.

The doors had already slid closed and locked. There wasn't any way out, and the room was fast filling with the deadly living smoke. The blaring alarm seemed deafening, and the red emergency lights flashed.

"Blue, you can make shields, right?" Callum asked.

"Yeah," Sky replied absently, looking for a means of escape and finding none.

"Can you make... like... a dome? An actual... shield bubble?"

"I don't know," Sky told him, "I've never tried it."

"Well try it now," Callum ordered, grabbing Kat by the elbow and dragging her closer.

"But-"

"Do it now!" Callum all but shouted, ducking down with Kat.

Sky did as he was told just as the smoke reached them. The smoke crawled up the blue shield like a living thing, seeming to be looking for a hole in the defense. The room turned dark as the smoke continued to fill it, the blackness broken only by the blue-white lightning sparks and the brief fires caused by the smoke coming in contact with the various electronics in the room.

"That," Kat said quietly, "was not a good idea."

"Why not?" Callum asked.

"I can't hold this for long," Sky interrupted before Kat could answer, "Thirty minutes max, and that's without anything trying to break in. Half that as it is. But we've got bigger problems."

"Like what?" Callum wanted to know.

"Sky's shield is air tight," Kat answered this time, "With the three of us and this amount of air, I'd say we have about three minutes before we all suffocate."

"Lovely," Callum moaned wearily, wiping a hand across his face, "See, this is the kind of thing you should tell me before it becomes an issue."

Sky grunted, but did not respond.

"Is everyone okay in there?" Cruger was asking over the loud speaker.

"For the next two and a half minutes," Kat responded, "Then we're in trouble."

"It'll take at least that long to get the door open," Jack said aside to Cruger.

"Wait," Callum was talking now, thinking aloud, "The immediate problem is air supply, right? Well I may have a solution for that."

"What?" Kat asked.

"The morphers."

"He's right," Cruger said, "The suits have their own, limited oxygen supply."

"One problem," Kat interrupted, "There's only two of them."

"Bigger problem," Sky added, his voice already breathless, "I can't use mine."

"What? Why not?" Callum demanded, "You need it more than we do so you can keep the shield up."

"It doesn't work," Sky shook his head, apparently too stressed to elaborate.

Jack finished explaining for him.

"Our powers don't work when we're morphed. If Sky morphed, the shield would drop."

"Trust me," Sky added, "The suit won't protect against the smoke. We'd be sitting ducks without the shield."

"Alright, alright..." Callum said, closing his eyes briefly and biting his lower lip, "But the idea's still sound. If we're not taking up the air, you can hold out longer."

"But this is Sky's morpher. I can't just use it," Kat protested, "It won't work for me."

"So..." Sky fielded this one, albeit slowly and with grave effort, "rewire it. You... _can_ do that."

He gazed at her steadily, and finally she nodded. She pulled a tool out of one of her pockets and got to work on the morpher. Callum went ahead and activated his morpher.

"Great, now we've got that under control," Jack said, turning to Cruger, "How do we get them out of there, without letting all that smoke loose in the base?"

"It's basically the same stuff as the thing that attacked me, right?" Sky asked.

"What's your point?" Cruger wanted to know.

"So..." Sky broke off, closing his eyes in concentration.

The smoke twisted and curled thickly around the energy shield. Electricity snapped at the shield and it flickered, wavering for a moment. It was evident that Sky wasn't going to be able to hold out for long. They couldn't see it from outside, but he was trembling with the effort of holding the shield.

"So we defeat it the same way as before," Jack finished when it was evident that Sky would be unable to.

"With water!" Syd exclaimed.

"How do we get enough water to... well... put it out?" Z asked.

"The sprinkler system," Boom volunteered, "All we have to do is get the system to think there's a fire in there and the sprinklers will do the rest."

"Shouldn't they already be doing that?" Syd asked, "I mean... there's smoke. Shouldn't the sprinklers be detecting that?"

"They can't," Bridge observed, "They're shorted out. Just like... everything else in there. We'll have to set them off manually."

"You can do that?" Jack asked.

"No," Bridge answered slowly, looking at Boom, "but we can."

"Get on it," Cruger ordered.

"Come on," Bridge slapped Boom on the shoulder and set off in the direction of the control panel at a brisk jog.

Boom tried, but couldn't manage to keep up with Bridge. When he got to the control room, Bridge was already working on solving the problem.

"Jack," Bridge said into his radio, "How much time have we got?"

There was a pause, where Jack was evidently conferring with those trapped before replying.

"_Kat says she doesn't know, Sky won't talk to her. Probably not long."_

"Oh good. No pressure then," Boom said shakily.

"We can do this," Bridge told him cheerfully, "Just focus."

"Easy for you to say," Boom replied.

* * *

"They're gonna run out of air before Bridge and Boom finish, aren't they?" Jack asked Cruger.

"Probably," Cruger admitted reluctantly.

"Isn't there anything we can do?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Something," Jack persisted.

"We could go to the level below," Syd suggested, "And maybe punch a hole through the floor."

"There are too many beams reinforcing it. You'd never get through," Cruger said.

"_We_ don't have to," Syd told him, "Only air does."

Cruger was silent for a moment, then nodded. He went to a terminal and pulled up a blueprint. He brought up the floor plan for Lab 3.

"You could make a hole there, enough to get them some air," he pointed, "Do it."

"We're on it," Jack said, relieved to finally be doing something, "come on, girls."

* * *

Meanwhile, things weren't looking so good inside the shield. Kat and Callum using the morphers had given Sky more time, but the air was getting thin. At the same time, Sky was reaching his limit on holding the shield up. Worse, he was already exhausted by the earlier battle, chase and subsequent injury. He didn't have much more to give.

He tried not to think about it. All he had to do was hold out, just a little longer. Commander Cruger, Jack and the others surely had a plan. For the second time that day, he placed his trust in others. And maybe that was part of the problem too. Some part of him was reluctant to trust again. Last time he'd done that, it had nearly gotten him killed. And it had been while he was under Callum's orders. That same person had told him to put up an airtight wall, which was now slowly suffocating him. He tried not to think about that either.

Distantly, he could hear Callum, or maybe Kat, he wasn't sure anymore, talking to him. He wasn't sure if they were asking him a question or what. He couldn't pay attention to them and hold the shield against the relentless smoke, which swirled and beat at it unmercifully.

He felt each assault inside, each time the smoke lashed out he felt stricken to the core. He was shaking, gasping for air, dripping with sweat, knowing that he couldn't hold out much longer. He was already past the point of safety.

He'd never brought it up but, when pushed past a certain point, his own shield could start doing damage to him. It became physically painful just to hold the shield. He'd reached that point, and wasn't sure how much more he could bear.

Dimly, he realized that the air was suddenly fresher and he felt relieved. He didn't know how or why it had happened, but he guessed rightly that Jack had something to do with it. But even that wouldn't be enough to save them. Even with the added boost of having enough oxygen, the shield was failing, and there was absolutely nothing he could do.

"I can't," he breathed desperately, shaking his head, "I can't."

"_I don't want to hear that, Sky," _Jack's voice spoke over the loud speaker said, _"You hold on. Just a bit longer. Bridge and Boom have almost got it. Hear me? You hold."_

Sky grit his teeth, and obeyed. There so much pressure in his head that he felt like he'd pass out any second, and it was a struggle not to let go and scream. But he held on, despite all that. All around him there was a crackling noise, a sound like fire. The smoke was trying to get in, and the shield was failing. There wasn't any more time. He couldn't do it. He just couldn't.

"I can't!" Sky cried out, and then the shield failed.


	6. Chapter 6 - Safety Concerns

Jack, Syd and Z had taken it in turns to wait bedside. At the last second, Bridge and Boom had finally come through. Kat and Callum were fine, but it wasn't clear if it had been too late for Sky. When the smoke cleared, he'd been lying unconscious in a pool of blood, his wound having reopened. He'd been out of it ever since, and nothing Kat could say eased the minds of the remaining members of B-Squad.

And then, of course, there was Bridge, who seemed utterly lost in a world all his own.

Jack hadn't gotten around to talk to Cruger about placing Bridge in charge the day of the incident in Lab 3. When he'd talked about it to Syd one day at lunch, she had pointed out the obvious.

"Look, I like Bridge, really I do. But he'd in no shape to be in charge. Of anything."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"The man is currently sitting in a corner having an emotional breakup with a house plant."

Looking over his shoulder at where Syd was looking, Jack was forced to admit that it looked bad. Bridge was clasping a frond in both hands and looking deep into the plant's leaves, whispering something quietly into the branches.

Callum, who had come within earshot just in time for this last remark, begged to differ.

"No he's not," Callum told them, "That's not Bridge at all."

"Looks like Bridge to me," Jack commented dryly, doing little to conceal the fact that he was growing to thoroughly dislike Callum's smug, know-it-all attitude.

"Well it's not. It's that glove he's wearing. He's picking up what's going on in somebody else's head..." Callum surveyed the room critically, "I'm guessing the guy who's staring hopelessly into a mug of coffee," he nodded in the direction of a man who did, indeed, look very unhappy, "I'd bet my career that guy is gonna go home and give his girl the 'it's not you, it's me' speech. He's playing it in his head, and Bridge is picking up on it."

Bridge suddenly let the plant go and buried his face in the cushion of the couch he was sitting on. Jack and Syd looked from him to Callum, who had paused to eat some of the pie off the plate he was holding.

"What? I said the guy's nuts. I never said there wasn't a good reason for it," Callum grumbled defensively, then moved on to a table farther away.

The last Jack had seen of Bridge was trying to talk to the latter in his room. Bridge had been lying on his side on his bed, hands pressed to the sides of his head, muttering that there was too much noise. Jack had tried to talk to him, but he wasn't convinced Bridge had heard a word he was saying.

The whole time, Bridge had been mumbling about noise, tracking chips, following the water, smoke demons and assorted other things, including but not limited to, cats, marmalade and road signs.

Jack had eventually given up on trying to communicate to Bridge that he needed to pull himself together. He'd gone to Kat, who said the new glove would be ready soon, but Jack shouldn't get his hopes up too high. She suspected that the hole in his hand had more to do with Bridge's apparent mental deterioration than anything, and that it might have to heal before he'd be back to his normal self. Assuming he ever got there.

All of this understandably weighed heavily on Jack's mind. So much so that, when Sky did finally wake up, Jack didn't notice at first, even though he was the one sitting bedside at the time.

"Jack?"

Jack was given a rough nudge into reality at the sound of Sky's quiet, slightly raspy voice. The intense blue eyes that stared up at him seemed deeply worried, but also questioning.

"Good to see you awake," Jack said, unable to think of anything else to say, "You had us worried."

Sky continued looking at him searchingly, his brow furrowed as though seeking answer to an unasked question in his face. Evidently not finding it, Sky took it upon himself to actually ask the question.

"Kat? Reese?"

"They're okay," Jack said, feeling a bit guilty that he hadn't volunteered that information.

Relief showed plain in Sky's face as he briefly closed his eyes. But when they opened again, there was still uncertainty there, a certain kind of concerned puzzlement. He must have seen the worried look on Jack's face, knew something was wrong, but had no idea what.

"We've missed having you around," Jack went on, trying to pretend that Sky's health had been the only thing on his mind. Trying, and failing.

"Jack," Sky interrupted before Jack could go on, "I get that I may not be your favorite person right now... but... something's bothering you, and I'd like to know what."

"Why would-..." Jack broke off and shook his head, "Forget it. I'm just upset because a bunch of stuff is going on and I can't do anything about it," he moved his broken arm slightly, indicating his helplessness, "I guess I just don't like being benched."

He stopped himself before he could go on and looked pointedly at the wall, at the ceiling, at the floor, anything to avoid looking Sky in the eyes. Sky, for his part, said nothing, but just looked steadily at him. It felt like he was looking right through Jack. Sky didn't say anything for awhile, and maybe there wasn't anything to say.

"If it helps any," he said finally, and Jack reluctantly turned to look him in the eyes, "You're still the leader of B-Squad. Nothing's changed. You may not be able to get out in it for awhile, but the Rangers of B-Squad still answer to you above everyone except Cruger. Even Callum Reese."

"I guess if I'd studied the manual like I was supposed to, I'd know that, wouldn't I?" Jack asked, smiling in spite of himself.

Sky didn't answer, but there was an amused look in his blue eyes.

"Funny though," Jack said after a moment, "It doesn't change anything. Not really."

"That's not true," Sky disagreed mildly, "It changed how you feel. Sometimes that's what matters most."

* * *

Not long after that, Sky was back on his feet, more or less. Around the same time, Kat finished work on Bridge's new glove. He still seemed a little bit more spacey than usual, but was at least he was reliable in the field. In fact, if he was morphed, he seemed perfectly back to... well, normal for him. As had been said, the special powers of the Rangers didn't work when they were morphed.

For awhile, just a little while, it seemed like things might work out with Callum and the other Rangers. It was evident that they lacked trust in him, and respect for him, but they did as he told them without complaint, remembering always that his position among their ranks was only temporary.

Jack didn't speak to Cruger about B-Squad's field leader, knowing full well that Bridge wasn't up to it, and Sky hadn't yet been put back in the field. As for Syd and Z... well, they were good Rangers, but that wasn't the same as being leaders. Both had expressed exceptional disinterest in the leadership position on more than one occasion anyway.

Maybe everything would have been fine, then again maybe not.

One morning, Cruger called the Rangers to the command center to tell them about a planned meeting of various Earth leaders, to talk about strategies for defeating Emperor Grumm. The Rangers of B-Squad would be there as security, having seen not only Grumm, but more of his henchmen than anyone else. They'd know any of Grumm's people on sight, even disguised. At least, that was the hope.

The Rangers, including Sky and Jack, went to the meeting site to see what security measures would be necessary to insure the safety of all who attended the meeting.

"I don't like this building," Jack concluded after they'd looked around for awhile.

"Why not?" Callum asked, "It's a good size. It's got two entrances and the meeting hall is in a central location. Easily defensible."

"It only has two exits," Jack corrected, "Not to mention giant windows. No good for escape, but perfectly usable for breaking in. And the meeting hall itself is in a central location with only one door in or out, anybody inside is trapped."

Callum took a moment to take in the building anew, turning in a slow circle with his arms crossed and a look of concentration on his face. The other Rangers waited uneasily. They were, of course, on Jack's side. Regardless of what they saw, they trusted his opinion, and were especially inclined to side with him if he disagreed with Callum. But they didn't say anything, feeling it wasn't really in their best interest to speak up just now. Or, in Sky's case, that it wasn't his place to say anything either way.

"I see," Callum grunted, but it was hard to tell if he was being serious or not, "Unfortunately, we don't get to pick the building. This is what we have to work with."

"So what's the plan?" Z asked, tactfully changing the subject.

"The way I see it, Bridge should be at the front door. He can scan the aura of anyone who comes through. I'm most worried about the Reaper. We know it can create things out of energy, which means it may be able to alter its appearance. It could be anybody, far as we know."

Jack nodded thoughtfully, but didn't interrupt.

"Obviously somebody needs to be with Bridge in case he screwballs," Callum continued, "I'll do that. Syd and Z, you'll be watching the back door."

"What about the meeting hall?" Jack asked.

"Second line of defense," Callum nodded, "You and Sky will be here anyway, and the hall itself is likely the least of our worries. You two ought to be able to keep an eye on it, right?"

Sky didn't answer, instead looking to Jack. Jack wanted to say no, but he couldn't think of a good reason why not. At least, not any reason Callum would be likely to accept. He wanted to insist that Cruger find a different location entirely. But he was reluctantly to disagree with Callum so blatantly. Callum had been in the field longer than he had, and had actually completed his SPD training, which was more than the rest of them, especially Jack, could say. Aside from which, coming into conflict with Callum would only encourage the other Rangers to rebel against him. And that was the last thing B-Squad needed.

"Yeah sure," Jack said, "Worst case, we can call Commander Cruger. He'll be here too."

"In the meeting, actually," Callum told him, "He and SC Birdy will both be in the meeting. The rest of us will have to be content with hearing about it secondhand after the fact."

"You mean we won't be allowed inside? How are we supposed to do our job from outside the room?" Sky asked, "We won't know what's happening."

"Sky's right. Someone could plant an explosive or something. Will we be allowed to check the room before the meeting?" Syd asked.

"Not my call," Callum said, "But no. Seems there are those attending the meeting who don't trust B-Squad, in spite of all it's done to protect the Earth."

"Bureaucrats," Jack shook his head, "This is why I didn't join SPD on purpose."

"A lot of the rules and regulations may not make sense, or be misused and even abused by higher ups, but SPD is the best chance the Earth's got," Callum pointed out.

"I know. Why do you think I became Red Ranger?"

"You tell me, Red," Callum retorted, "Because it seems to me you'd rather be going it alone."

"So closed in. Trapped. This place is a lie, like it's not even here."

This was said by Bridge, who had been running his hand over the walls of the building and was now kneeling down to touch the floor. His voice and expression were distant, he sounded almost drugged.

"That's exactly what we don't need tomorrow," Callum said.

"What about the building?" Jack asked, ignoring Callum, "Talk to me, Bridge."

"It's no good. It's not right. It feels... wrong," Bridge stood up suddenly, pulling his hand away, "This isn't a good idea, Jack. I can't explain what it is, just... the building feels wrong."

"Nice, Carson, spread the paranoia," Callum said coldly, "This is the building where they're gonna have their big important meeting, whether we like it or not."

Bridge looked stung, and fell silent.

"It's not his fault," Jack came at once to Bridge's defense, "I asked him."

"Yeah, and you already said you don't like this building. I'm sorry, but I can't do anything about it. So why don't you all just be quiet and make the best of it?"

Callum stormed off without waiting for a response, leaving the other Rangers to look at each other uncomfortably. The more time they spent with Callum, the less any of them liked him. Except possibly Bridge, who probably couldn't have liked Callum any less if he'd tried. After a tense moment of indecision, the Rangers fell in after Callum. Sky and Jack were the last to follow.

"You're going to have to do something about him," Sky told Jack quietly, "He's a danger to the team, if only because nobody trusts him."

"I know. But it won't be much longer. Just... put up with him for a couple more weeks."

Jack waited to see if Sky would argue. When he didn't, Jack went to find the rest of B-Squad. Sky, left behind, took a last uneasy look around the room. It wasn't his place to say it, yet he couldn't help but think it. With both Jack and Bridge unhappy with the arrangement, Sky had little choice but to think it. This was not going to end well.


	7. Chapter 7 - Fury of the Reaper

B-Squad, plus Cruger, arrived before anyone else except for the members of SPD who had been in charge of setting the place up. The building had been virtually empty before. Now there was a temporary carpet laid down, the walls were lined with tables which held an assortment of snacks and beverages. For every VIP there would be an entourage, who would all be waiting outside for the duration of the meeting. Aside from which, the casual atmosphere would hopefully smooth any feathers that might be ruffled and set the tone for the day. At least, that was the idea.

"Couple hundred people spells trouble," was Jack's only comment.

There was an upstairs balcony, which had a hall leading to a series of bathrooms. Well away from everyone else. Jack had that pegged as a point of vulnerability, especially as Callum had failed to have a Ranger secure it. He had spoken privately with the members of B-Squad and Sky had agreed to stay upstairs, leaving Jack alone near the meeting hall.

"I'm not very good at politics," Sky had explained, "I'd feel better away from any important people I might accidentally insult."

Jack himself harbored doubts about his ability to make small talk. As Red Ranger, he would be the main target of inquiry. He'd have preferred Sky have his back with the real threat of paper pushers, assassination attempts be damned. But that wasn't his job. His job was to make sure these people were kept safe, which didn't necessarily have any bearing on their relative happiness with his job performance. He just hoped they had more interesting things to discuss than B-Squad.

"B-Squad, secure the building," Cruger ordered, striding towards the meeting hall, presumably to secure that room for himself.

Callum had assigned them each to inspect an area, with considerable overlap. Every inch of the place was to be examined by two Rangers. They each also had a staff list. If anyone not on the list was here, or if there was anyone missing from the list, it would be reported. They were taking no chances. There were too many important people coming today to risk losing even one of them.

Finishing their sweep, they briefly regrouped in the main room, before splitting off to their previously assigned locations. They'd found nothing. That, in itself, was enough to set them all on edge. They couldn't help but feel they'd missed something, or that something was about to happen.

Syd and Z disappeared around the corner to cover the back door. Sky went upstairs, down the hall and out of sight of the main room. Jack drifted toward the meeting hall, while Callum and Bridge took their places on either side of the front door.

Callum would take down the names of those arriving while Bridge unobtrusively read their auras. Providing nothing went wrong, the VIPs and their entourages would continue into the main room, where they would mingle amongst themselves while waiting for everyone else to arrive and be cleared.

Simple, right?

Bridge wasn't so sure. His hands were shaking as he took his place to the left of the door. All morning he'd been getting strange readings, even with his gloves on. Hearing things a fraction of a second before they were said, seeing phantom images of people who'd been where he was a short time before. All normal, except not when he had gloves on. The gloves were supposed to stop that from happening.

"You've been avoiding me," Callum broke into Bridge's thoughts.

"No I haven't," Bridge replied, then elaborated, "I just haven't been where you are. Or where you expect me to be. Not that I've been doing it on purpose, I've just been doing... stuff. Important stuff, and-"

"Why do you hate me, Carson?" Callum interrupted, though his voice was surprisingly calm, "The only time you and I are ever in the same room at the same time is when you're under orders to be there."

"I don't hate you," Bridge protested.

"Yeah, right. Tell that to someone who knows less about what goes on in that head of yours," Callum scoffed, "You forget I spent two years listening to you talk in your sleep. You are _very_ good at playing pretend, Carson. Hats off, really. But you can't lie to me."

"I'm not-" But Bridge didn't get to continue his defense as the first wave of people arrived at the door.

They signed in one by one. Callum checked that each one was on the list, and Bridge did his job. It took so long to finish that, by the time they had, the second group had already arrived. Callum and Bridge didn't get any time to say anything. Each time Callum finished checking the signatures of a group, he would look at Bridge to see if he was done, or if he had any reservations. Time and again, Bridge met his eyes, and nodded slightly. Callum then told the VIP and their entourage that they could go on in. And then would come the next group.

Every time he took his glove off, Bridge got a brief flash. It felt more like a hallucination than an actual reading. He would flash to that day he was stabbed in the hand, vividly reliving the moment, including the pain which had accompanied it, in torturous detail. The Reaper's face beneath the hood, glimpsed so briefly. He couldn't remember what it looked like, not really. He saw razor teeth, hollow glowing eyes, but nothing distinct, nothing real. And then it would be gone, only to return in force each time the process repeated.

The pressure in his head was building, and it was becoming more and more difficult to focus. He wasn't going to tell Callum that, not yet. He wasn't about to give Callum the satisfaction. Not if he wasn't endangering anyone by pushing through it. He just kept telling himself there were only a few more.

Jack, meanwhile, felt that he was floundering helplessly in the social tides of these people who he recognized from news reports and briefings. He knew their names and faces, and knew they often governed how he lived his life, making the rules people were expected to follow. But they were strangers to him, all asking awkward and uncomfortable questions about SPD and Power Rangers. He knew that every answer he gave would be recorded forever in the person's memory, and would doubtless influence future decisions about the Rangers.

This party-like affair felt more dangerous than any of Grumm's henchmen. Jack would have preferred to face a never-ending parade of Krybots than spend five minutes talking to these people.

Each time he managed to extricate himself from one conversation, he fell headlong into another one, as if every person in the room were waiting in line for their chance at him. Like they had nothing better to do than ask inane and/or frightening questions about himself, the Rangers, SPD in general, and every mission he'd ever been on. More than once, inquiries were made about his arm. These people had surely read the reports. They were making small talk for the sake of it, testing his responses rather than looking at the events themselves.

Syd and Z, on the other hand, were completely out of the action. Stuck at the back door, they could only listen to the party going on around the corner. All Syd could think of was how unfair it was that she was missing it. And all Z could think of was how glad she was that she wasn't in Jack's place.

"We are gonna be so bored by the time this is over," Syd commented.

"I'm already bored," Z replied.

Upstairs, Sky was feeling perhaps more uneasy than the rest of them. The second story windows were the least secure part of the building, mostly because he was the only one protecting them. Something he hadn't mentioned when he agreed to do this was that he hadn't been able to form a shield since the incident in the lab. Not that he hadn't tried. But he simply didn't have the energy for it. So far, he hadn't told anyone, not even Kat or Cruger. He could still do his job, in spite of the limitation. After all, not everybody had powers. Even those who did couldn't necessarily use them for defense. Bridge, for instance.

It didn't set him any more at ease when Callum announced, over the radio, that all who were on the list had arrived. Anybody with sense would go after all the VIPs at once. Now was the time when trouble would be most likely. From now until the end of the meeting, Sky and the others would have to be hyper vigilant, and ready for anything.

Per instruction, a Ranger from each location would report in via radio every ten minutes.

At the front entrance, Bridge sighed with relief and sat down in a chair, putting a hand to his aching head. But he couldn't relax, even though his largest task was behind him. Something still felt wrong. Something was off. He'd known that since first inspecting the building, before Jack had even said anything. He just didn't know what it was that was bugging him.

"Ah hell," Callum growled, suddenly looking around.

"What?" Bridge was at once on the alert, looking for signs of trouble.

"Did you scan the auras of the staff?" Callum asked urgently, turning to Bridge.

A cold feeling of dread began to form in the pit of Bridge's stomach as he reluctantly shook his head. He hadn't. He hadn't even thought of it. Something about people wearing the familiar SPD uniform had turned off his suspicions.

"Do it now," Callum ordered, "Go!"

"Alright, alright!"

Bridge stepped away from the door, sliding off one of his gloves. A bright flash behind his eyes warned him that he was overstepping his limitations. He shouldn't do this. Couldn't. He'd already used his powers more today than he normally did in a week. The injury to his hand made each use painful, even if he used his other hand. But if Callum was right, the enemy was hiding inside an SPD uniform, behind the face of someone familiar, then Bridge was responsible. He'd been ignoring the flashes all day. It was on his head if things went wrong here today.

"_Jack, I've sent Carson to scan the auras of staff members. Keep him in sight. If he finds a mole, they may try to get rid of him. Keep your distance, but make sure that doesn't happen. And, for goodness sake, try to look casual. We don't need a panic. That goes for you too, Carson."_

"Roger that," Bridge responded, his voice a trifle unsteady.

Halfway across the room, he came to a dead stop.

"_Carson, what are you doing?"_

Bridge didn't answer, looking first at the floor, then up at the ceiling. His brow furrowed for a moment, and he tilted his head to the side. His ability picked up on the oncoming disaster, playing it before his mind's eye as though it were happening already. In the midst of the confusing vision, Bridge managed to tear free and look at Jack. His mouth was open, but he couldn't say anything. His eyes said everything that was needed.

"_We have a problem,"_ Jack said, but before anyone could ask was he meant, an explosion of black smoke erupted at the center of the room, inches from Bridge.

The twister of evil energy shot to the ceiling, ominous black accented by deadly flashes of blue-white light, shuddering and swaying like a living tornado.

"Take cover!" Jack shouted unnecessarily to the panicking civilians.

The VIPs, as well as Cruger, were in the meeting hall already, presumably unaware of the abrupt chaos outside. The column of smoke weaved and shuddered towards the door.

"Sky! Get down here!" Jack shouted into his radio, "Syd, Z, on the double."

Syd and Z appeared from around the corner, entering the room at a dead run. Sky took the fast way down, hopping onto the balcony railing, then leaping down to the floor. By this point, the column of smoke was starting to expand, lightning snaps of electricity leaping out and striking at apparent random. Bridge was still standing in front of it, staring blankly upwards.

A bolt of electricity struck near him and he looked down at the smoldering crater left behind. For a moment, his mind seemed stuck, incapable of comprehension. But then the smoldering crater sparked off a fire, which spread to the carpet. It started slowly, but quickly picked up speed, eating its way across the floor like an aggressive asp.

"Well that's not good," Bridge commented mildly, as though he were watching the disaster unfold on television instead of reality.

"Carson! Get out of there!" Callum's voice finally got Bridge's attention and he flipped backwards just as the smoke twister jerked in his direction, spewing forth tongues of lightning.

"Well I guess the Reaper wasn't pretending to be an employee," Bridge observed.

The Rangers had grouped around Callum, and it was Jack who pointed out the obvious.

"No. All it had to do was hide in the walls."

"Something _you_ should have picked up on," Callum shot this at Bridge.

"Guys! Save the bickering for later," Z interrupted, "Right now we have to get rid of this monster. Or at least get it under control."

"This is so not what we trained for," Syd said.

"Then I guess we'll have to learn on the fly," Sky replied neutrally.

Tentacles of smoke broke from the column, shooting out in all directions, crashing through walls and into the floor, their only clear purpose being destruction. The Rangers were forced to scatter to avoid the deadly electric charges produced by the tendrils. The fire which had started in one corner and spread across the floor was now climbing the tapestries on the walls, snaking obscenely up the carpeted stairs and consuming everything it came in contact with.


	8. Chapter 8 - Destruction

The Rangers' first attempts at attacking the smoke had been in vain. Syd's fist of iron had gone right through as though the smoke wasn't there, several of Z's copies had been electrocuted, Callum's attempt had been thwarted by a wall of fire which had sprung up to block his way. A powerful wave of noise had emanated from the center of the thing, knocking them all to the ground.

Now the smoke tentacles were refocusing, converging, directing towards the meeting all. Slinking, slithering menacingly and purposefully towards the door. There was only one thing to do.

"Sky, your shield can block this stuff," Callum shouted over the roar of flames.

"I can't use my shield," Sky yelled back, "It won't work."

"Of course," Bridge snapped his fingers, but nobody heard him.

As the other Rangers went about yelling at one another, trying to find a solution in the few precious seconds before the living tornado breached the meeting hall, a few facts fell into place for Bridge. The Reaper controlled energy. Sky's powers required energy of him. The Reaper had drained that power in the attack at the Lab, by stealing the energy that caused it to work, nearly killing Sky in the process.

Even if Sky could use his shield, it would be only a limited solution. The Reaper would just absorb the energy again. However, there was something it couldn't handle. Bridge snapped out of his thought trance before anyone realized he'd been tuned out.

"Cale!" Bridge shouted, "The answer is in energy!"

"The answer to what?" Callum asked.

"Everything! Well, not everything. Actually, on second thought-"

"Carson! If you don't spit out what you're chewing on _right now_, I will personally come over there and drop kick you into next week!"

"Use your power on Grumm's Reaper!"

"You're kidding!" Callum snapped, as the other Rangers asked in unison, "Reese has powers?"

"I'm not kidding! I never kid about superpowers!" Bridge yelled, ignoring the stares of the others and gazing fixedly at Callum.

"This thing eats energy for breakfast! And then it converts that energy into sharp objects and then it throws them at us! You're freakin' nuts!" Callum shouted, "You're asking me to _feed_ that monster!"

"Cale! When have I ever asked you to trust me?" Bridge demanded and, when there was no answer, he pressed the advantage, "I'm asking you to trust me now. For once in your life, trust someone! More specifically, me! Please, Cale."

Callum made a sound of anger, but instead of arguing, he leaped over the fire barring his way, flipping several times and coming to land on one knee just shy of a smoky tentacle. At once, the smoke shrank back from him, parting around him, and cutting towards the fire.

"Now, Cale!"

Callum took a deep breath, closed his eyes, removed his gloves, and reached out towards the twisted, screaming smoke, hands open and palms down. From a distance, it at first looked like the blue lightning of the tornado was gathering in a deadly pool around Callum, but it was soon apparent that the light was coming from his hands, spreading in an ever widening circle around him.

The air crackled, the flames leaped higher, glass shattered, and a piercing wail tore from the central mass of smoke. The tentacles flailed about, smashing into the walls, slicing through building supports as the smoke monster's core reacted to Callum's power, whatever that was. It didn't touch him. The shuddering tentacles wavered, screaming and writhing about him, but not one of them touched him.

Bridge took off his glove and ran his hand across the room.

"It's working," he said under his breath, then repeated it louder, "It's working!"

And it might have. Except for one unfortunate detail. The spasming tentacles were, quite literally, bringing down the house. Above all the other noise, there was suddenly an ominous rumble. It was Sky who looked up and realized what was happening.

"Look out!"

The warning seemed too late, as the entire building abruptly collapsed in on itself. Concrete, wood, steel, plaster and glass rained down on the Rangers and the Reaper smoke in a deadly hail of debris. In less than a minute, there was nothing left but rubble and a terrible silence filled the void.

Dust hung thickly in the air, covering what remained of the meeting site in a choking smog of gray. Slabs of broken concrete and twisted steel beams rose in mounds. Broken glass was everywhere. Everywhere, that is, except for one spot.

The meeting hall was gone, in its place was a square of flat surface, covered in a thin layer of dust. At its center was a mahogany table, under which huddled the VIPs. On top of the table, lying on his side, was Sky who, at the last second, had broken in to the hall and ordered everyone under the table. He'd managed a thin, highly unstable shield, which had held up for mere seconds. But it had been enough to keep the worst of the debris off the VIPs. They were not the only survivors.

"Everybody okay?" Jack, who had used his own power to become intangible, asked.

There was some coughing under a pile of concrete. Then the rubble shifted, and Syd and Z appeared. Syd had used her training and special power to form a sort of protective tent from slabs of concrete and a series of steel beams, thus saving herself and Z from harm.

"We're good," Syd spoke for both of them, Z just coughed some more.

"Bridge, Reese?" Jack called.

"Here!" Bridge's disembodied voice called from somewhere in the haze of dust, "I could really use a hand right about now, if you're not busy."

The Rangers scrambled blindly towards the sound of his voice, and found him kneeling next to a heap of broken wood and steel supports. At first glance, all seemed well. Except for a gash on his forehead, Bridge looked fine. Then the dust cleared a little, and they saw his problem.

Or, Callum's problem. Callum was pinned under the supports. He'd been knocked out when his head hit the floor. He looked pale and it was unclear whether or not he was even breathing.

"He's alive," Bridge said, "I scanned his aura. But I can't move the stuff off of him by myself."

"It's alright. We've got this," Jack said, putting a hand on Bridge's shoulder.

"I shouldn't have told him to use his power," Bridge said quietly. "This shouldn't have happened. I did this. To him, to all of you," he looked up at them, guilt in his eyes, "_I_ did this."

"Calm down," Jack ordered, but his voice was sympathetic, "We're all still alive. We'll just dig him out and he'll be fine. I promise. Now come on and help us get him unburied, okay?"

Bridge swallowed hard, and nodded. He got unsteadily to his feet, then almost immediately tipped over. Jack caught him and eased him back to a sitting position.

"On second thought, you. Sit. Stay. We'll handle this."

"Okay," Bridge replied weakly, putting a hand to his head, "That sounds good."

"Syd and Sky, you'll... wait, where's Sky?" Jack looked around, "Sky!"

"Here," it had taken Sky a moment to recover his senses, but now he joined the Rangers.

He seemed a little worse for wear, but didn't appear unsteady on his feet. For the moment, Jack would have to assume he was fine, though he doubted that was the case.

"Alright. Syd, Sky, you take that side. Z, you take that side. I'll make sure nothing shifts and starts crushing him. Okay?"

It took almost twenty minutes, but Callum was eventually uncovered. He didn't wake up during that time. It was only then that the Rangers remembered the VIPs and their people. The SPD staff and the various entourages had escaped out the front and back doors during the fight. The VIPs seemed relatively unharmed, though more than a little miffed. At first, nothing seemed too out of place.

Until Sky asked a very unsettling question.

"Where's Commander Cruger?"

The Rangers looked around frantically. The regrouping entourages and SPD staff weren't concealing Cruger, nor was he among the VIPs.

"Commander!" Jack shouted, and the other Rangers echoed the call, "Commander Cruger!"

It was Bridge who managed to find him. Having recovered somewhat from his dizzy spell, Bridge scanned for Cruger's aura. Cruger alone out of the VIPs had not been shielded from the building's collapse. Bridge found him buried under the rubble surrounding the undamaged table.

"Here!" he announced, then moved back to give the other Rangers space.

He backed up until he ran into the table, then leaned wearily against it. Unhappily, he looked around. He'd done this. It was his fault this had happened. His first mistake was not trusting his instincts. He should have held his ground when he said the place "felt wrong". His own pride had kept him from doing that. He hadn't wanted Callum to make fun of him for getting "a bad feeling". The mistakes had continued from there, culminating in his telling Callum to attack the Reaper's tornado directly with his powers. People could have died because of him.

"He doesn't look too good," Jack said, examining Cruger, "We better get him to the base, fast. Reese too. Kat'll know how to help them."

* * *

As it turned out, Callum hadn't actually been hurt too badly. Kat wanted him to take it easy for a couple of days, and said he'd probably suffer headaches off and on for some time to come, but he was mostly okay. The news on Cruger wasn't so good. The Big Dog had really taken a hit, and Kat didn't know when he would wake up. Until someone was sent to take over temporarily, she was in charge.

The really bad news was that the VIPs were all going home, the meeting was canceled. And it seemed that the future of B-Squad was uncertain at best. They hadn't exactly put on a good performance back there. Their actions had jeopardized not only the lives of the people in that room, but the entire world.

The Rangers, minus Bridge, gathered in the common area. The general mood was glum.

"Looks like you really did it this time," Jack said to Callum, "Just when I was starting to think maybe you weren't a total idiot."

"You should have told us you had powers," Syd added.

"Carson knew," Callum replied, avoiding her eyes.

"Don't you dare blame Bridge for this," Jack snapped, "You were in charge, it's your fault things went down the way they did. B-Squad was fine before you came along. In less than two weeks, you have single-handedly almost killed every Ranger in this room at least twice!"

"I wasn't blaming Carson," Callum briefly sounded like his normal arrogant self, then he deflated, "I was just saying that I should have known better than to take his advice," he got to his feet, sounding somewhere between angry and guilty, "There, I said it! Everything's my fault. Happy now?"

He didn't wait for an answer, turning on his heel and walking stiffly from the room.

"How did that guy ever get to be a Ranger?" Jack wondered aloud.

"I'm not sure what he did was all bad," Sky said reluctantly, pausing when everyone turned to stare at him in disbelief, "I shouldn't have been able to form a shield. I think Reese did more than charge the tornado. I think he recharged my power somehow too. And I don't think it was accidental."

"What makes you think that?" Syd asked, "Maybe your shield worked because it had to, it was a matter of survival."

"No," Sky replied, "I've thought about it and... I felt something. As the room was collapsing, like a jolt of electricity. And then I could form the shield."

"Still, that doesn't exactly clear him," Jack said, "That situation shouldn't have happened."

"I'm not arguing that," Sky told him, "I want him gone as much as you do. I just think he deserves credit where it's due is all."

"Whatever," Jack shrugged dismissively, "But I'm still gonna talk to Kat. Healthy or not, somebody is gonna take charge over him, because I'm tired of watching him destroy my team."

"You don't have to," Kat said from the doorway, "I'm putting Sky in charge of B-Squad. Callum will remain with B-Squad until Jack's ready for active duty, but Sky will be leading the team from here on out."

* * *

Bridge, meanwhile, had locked himself in his room. He didn't feel like faking a smile right now. He was so tired of pretending to be happy and amiable all the time. Especially right now. He'd nearly gotten B-Squad, and everyone else killed. He couldn't pretend that it hadn't happened. And he couldn't bear to listen to anyone tell him it wasn't his fault, as he knew they would.

He sat with his back against the door, knees drawn up to his chest and arms resting on them, staring across the room at nothing in particular. His blurred vision had nothing to do with his head injury, or his powers going haywire. It had been so long since he'd cried that he'd almost forgotten what it felt like. To feel so alone, so hollow inside that there was nothing for it but to let the tears fall.

There was a knock on the door. Knowing his voice wasn't steady, Bridge said nothing and hoped whoever it was would just go away and leave him alone. But that was not to be the case.

"Carson? You in there?" it was Callum, "You don't have to answer that, I know you are. Look, I just wanted to tell you... I'm sorry. For a lot of things. You were brilliant back there. Using my energy charge powers against the Reaper. I know it didn't exactly work, at least not the way you thought it would. And I know the Reaper got away, and I'm to blame for that."

There was a pause, then Callum went on.

"I don't blame you now. For what it's worth, I didn't blame you then, either. I thought you should know that. I should have said it then, and I'm sorry for that too."

Bridge said nothing, and soon heard Callum walking away. He wished he could trust himself to speak, but his emotions were too far out of control for that. The Callum he'd known three years ago would never have apologized, not to anyone, least of all to him.


	9. Chapter 9 - The Worst Idea in the World

Kat set a priority on tracking down and capturing the Reaper. It was clearly too dangerous an alien to be allowed to continue roaming free unchecked. The only problem was, it didn't surface in the city. Its one goal seemed to be annihilating the Rangers. For the time being, it had gone to ground.

"We can't keep waiting for it to show up again, we need to meet this thing on our terms for once," Sky said, "But I don't see how we can make it come to us."

"I don't think we can," Jack, though not in the field, chose to attend and put in his two cents at the meeting, "It's too smart to break cover for a trap."

"So we can't defeat it when it attacks, and we can't get it to come to us, what's left?" Syd asked.

"We go to it," Z answered.

"How? We don't have a way to track it. Bridge tried to pick up traces of its aura where we fought it last, but the trail faded out," Callum now spoke in place of Bridge, who for whatever reason had not appeared to help think of ideas.

Jack had advised Sky to leave him be. Letting Bridge think in his own way and his own time had often proved invaluable in the past, maybe it would now too. It couldn't hurt anyway.

"And we don't know anything about its habits," Z put in, inwardly upset to find herself agreeing with Callum, "I talked to Piggy, he doesn't know anything about the Reaper except that it's bad news."

"We knew that already," Sky said, "He didn't have anything else?"

"Piggy just said that the Reaper is very, very bad news. Grumm hardly ever employs it. Piggy says that it sometimes destroys entire worlds in pursuit of its target. If we don't stop it, Grumm's Reaper will keep upping the ante until we can't afford it. It's that dangerous."

"Then we'll just have to be more dangerous," Bridge said, walking into the room, "Or equally dangerous. Or do more dangerous things? Well, danger's sure to be involved anyway."

"Aside from that blinding flash of the obvious, do you have anything else you'd like to share with us?" Sky demanded, somewhat impatiently.

Z had just confirmed what they had all known subconsciously all along. The very Earth was at stake. That was technically always true, but not in this way. Grumm just wanted to conquer the planet and plunder its resources. The Reaper, in pursuit of the Rangers, was willing to utterly destroy it, and anyone who got in the Reaper's way.

"Yes, Sky, there is. Thanks for asking."

"And?" Jack pressed when Bridge hesitated.

Bridge shifted uneasily and his eyes flickered in Callum's direction. Callum stiffened where he stood.

"No. Carson, no," Callum growled, repeating this when Bridge took a steadying breath, "No."

"You've all seen Callum's power work. He was able to transfer energy from himself to Sky so that Sky could use his shield. In the same way, he overloaded the Reaper, causing it to virtually short out."

"Which would be very helpful, except that we don't know where the Reaper _is_," Sky hissed.

"I know that," Bridge said mildly, unruffled by or unaware of the tension in the room. It was hard to tell with Bridge, "But I know how to find it."

"How?" Sky asked, at the same time as Callum said, "No," for the sixth or seventh time.

"Cale, you know as well as I do what the stakes are," Bridge said, turning to Callum.

To the other Rangers, it suddenly seemed like they no longer existed in reality, but were merely spectators, observing, but unnoticed by those participating in it.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten what happened back then," Callum shot back, seeming more shaken than angry.

"You know I haven't. But that doesn't matter. Not here, and certainly not now."

"What makes you think this time will be different?"

"Because, this time, we both know what we're doing. And why we have to do it."

"Uh, guys? Could I just ask a question here?" Jack interjected.

Callum and Bridge both blinked and turned to look at him, as though noticing his presence for the first time.

"Hi. So, what are you two talking about? And which one of you wants to tell me?"

Callum and Bridge exchanged glances. Bridge opened his mouth to speak, but Callum put a hand on his shoulder and stepped forward. Callum took a deep breath, and began

"We were first year cadets. I guess you all know what that means."

"Enlighten me," Jack growled, crossing his arms.

"Right. Forgot. Sorry," Callum licked his lips nervously, it was the first time he'd ever looked truly uneasy, "When I was a first year cadet, I thought the second year cadets were _so... _so cool. I would have done... _anything_, to impress them. As for Carson... he just wanted to fit in. To show that he belonged in SPD as much as anyone else... and so, we hatched a plan. It was the biggest mistake of my life. See, I was the one who thought of it, and convinced Carson... Bridge... to go along with it."

"I made my own choice," Bridge corrected him, "I take responsibility for my actions."

"You weren't responsible. Not that day..."

* * *

"_Whirlpool, want to cat. Eating burger," Bridge was muttering quietly to himself, his stare vacant as he gazed across the room._

"_Will you shut up? Hey, are you even listening to me?" Callum snapped his fingers in Bridge's face._

"_Artichoke!" Bridge exclaimed, then blinked and looked over at Callum, "Oh hi."_

"_You done?"_

"_Hmm? Oh, yes. I'm done. Like a potato, or an artichoke... do you cook artichokes? I don't know. Artichokes are a vegetable, but you don't put them in soup, so does that mean you eat them raw? You put carrots in soup, but you can eat them raw-"_

"_BRIDGE!" Callum shouted, shaking Bridge's shoulders, "Focus!"_

"_What were we talking about? Ooh, is that C-Squad?" he started toward the distant cadets, but Callum stayed him by putting a hand on his chest._

"_Hold it, flea-brain," Callum said, "Remember the plan?"_

"_Plan? Ooh, I love plans. They're like planes, only easier to say."_

"_What?" Callum shook his head, "Agh, never mind. Now, pay attention: do you remember hacking into the SPD criminal records computer?"_

"_Hmm? Oh sure. That was fun. Are we gonna do that again?"_

"_No! Gah, it's like talking to a wall."_

"_No it's not. I've talked to walls. Walls never talk back. But they do speak. With shiny colors," he waved a hand in front of Callum, "You look angry. Why are you angry? Can I help? Would you like some buttery toast? Would that make you less angry?"_

"_Forget food! Forget the walls! Forget everything and just listen to me for a minute. The reason we broke into the computer is because we needed a target. For our plan to work, you need to do your job. Do you remember what your job is?"_

"_Um... no," Bridge shook his head._

"_Agh! What's the matter with-... no, scratch that. Look. Look at this file. See this alien?"_

_"Yes, I do."_

_"This alien is a bad guy. We need to find that guy. Can you wrap your thick head around that?"_

"_I dunno, my head isn't that flexible."_

"_Were you raised under a rock?"_

"_No, but I was kept in a padded cell for most of my childhood. It was for my own safety."_

"_Riiight... whatever. The point is, we need to find this guy."_

"_Okay. How?"_

"_How do you think?" Callum grabbed Bridge's wrist with one hand and held it up._

"_Ohhh..." Bridge nodded, "Yy powers aren't that stable."_

"_I know that," Callum bapped the back of Bridge's head, "I'm going to help you, using my powers."_

"_Which will amplify mine approximately a thousand fold, making me able to read any aura in a hundred mile radius."_

"_Exactly. Now, why we picked this guy," Callum waved the file, "Is because we know he lives somewhere in this city. All we have to do is track him down. C-Squad will do the rest."_

"_I dunno, he seems dangerous. Isn't this a job for A-Squad?"_

"_Heck no. C-Squad needs a chance to shine, and so do we. We can help each other out, making all of us infinitely cooler," Callum explained._

"_Okay,"_

"_Wait... that's it? 'Okay'? Don't you have five or six... _thousand_... words you want to add to that?" Callum asked in disbelief._

"_No. I don't think so. Unless you'd rather I did."_

"_No, no! You're fine. Just... shut up. Let me do the talking."_

* * *

"Which," Callum sighed, "is exactly what I did. C-Squad was only too eager to participate. After all, they were second-year cadets. More than anything, they wanted to prove themselves in the field, to prove that they were done training and ready for bigger things."

"Some things never change," Sky observed.

"As you might have guessed, our plan backfired."

"What happened?" Syd asked.

"I couldn't handle the supercharge," Bridge said, "I was overwhelmed. Instead of reading the aura, my system adapted to it."

"Meaning?" Jack pressed when Bridge didn't elaborate.

"I became the very monster we were seeking."

"Turns out, C-Squad wasn't equipped to handle the threat," Callum said, "Bridge took every one of us down in seconds. Including me. I woke up two hours later with a concussion."

"Whoa," Jack breathed.

"C-Squad had no idea what had happened," Callum went on, "I didn't explain the mechanics to them. They just thought Bridge had gone berserk. I... let them think that. And told my superior that it had been Bridge's idea, that he'd talked me into it."

"And they believed you?" Sky asked.

"Yeah. I mean, who were they going to believe? A top grades cadet or what they viewed as a mentally impaired nut-job who was only in training because he couldn't be confined to a padded cell or turned loose on the world?"

"I didn't remember any of it," Bridge put in, "Not until months later. And nobody mentioned the incident... for obvious reasons. Two of the C-Squad cadets never got to finish their training. Before long, I was transferred out, for my own safety."

"It wasn't your fault. None of it," Callum told him.

"Doesn't matter now. What matters is, we can do the same thing we did back then and find the Reaper."

"And have you get mentally crushed by the Reaper's personality? No. Bridge, I am not willing to put you in that position. Not again. _Never_ again. I've already done you enough harm."

"This isn't about me, Cale," Bridge said, gazing intently at Callum, "Or you. This is about defending the Earth. Something we both swore to do. I can do this. Please, let me do this."

"Sky?" Callum turned to Sky for support, but the Blue Ranger shrugged.

"Bridge thinks he can handle it, and it's not like we have a lot of options. But it's your power he needs, not mine. The choice is up to you."

Callum bit his lower lip, and looked at Bridge. Finally, he nodded.

"Alright. Yes. Let's do it."

* * *

The Rangers were gearing up and preparing to implement the plan which had been laid out before them. They would return to the demolished building and Bridge, with assistance from Callum, would try to pick up the Reaper's trail, and track it. It had been made perfectly clear that Bridge would be exhausted and unable to defend himself afterwards, forget actually fighting. Callum was an unknown, he'd never tested the limits of his powers. Since that incident years ago with Bridge, he had actually refrained from exercising his powers at all, having become uncomfortably aware of how dangerous they really were.

If possible, he would use his powers to short-circuit the Reaper, giving the Rangers an advantage. But they might well be going in without that benefit. But they still had water as a weapon, or at least a defense. It might not work on the Reaper itself, but it did work on the Reaper's creations. Either way, water was a must and, where they were going, there probably wasn't any.

Bridge pulled Sky quietly aside.

"Look, Sky, if things go south, or sideways, or whatever the term is..."

"What?" Sky asked when his friend trailed off.

"I may be taking on too much here. There's a chance that the energy of the Reaper will override my base personality, replacing it with the Reaper's. If that happens, I'll be every bit as dangerous as it is. More, because you won't see it coming."

"What are you saying?"

"You may have to... stop me. No. You... _will_... have to stop me. I don't want to wake up and find out you all died because I took you to the Reaper, and then _became_ that thing. Do you understand?"

"What do you expect me to do?"

"Whatever you have to."

"What? Kill you? I can't do that. Don't ask me to do that."

"You may not have time to restrain me, Sky. Don't turn away from me, listen!. Sky, you are the team's leader. If anything happens to them, you are responsible for that. If it comes down to me or them, you have to put them -the last hope Earth has of defending itself against Emperor Grumm- before me. You know that. You are trained to know that. You cannot hesitate."

"No. We'll have to find some other way. I can't ask you to do this," Sky shook his head.

"The Reaper will destroy the Earth if we don't stop it," Bridge said evenly, looking Sky square in the eye, "This is our only shot. We're Rangers, Sky. This is what we do. Risk our lives, sometimes give our lives, so that innocent people don't have to die. This is what both of us signed on for."

"Right. I know," Sky sighed after a moment, "I just... I don't like this."

"You think I do?" Bridge suddenly sounded half-playful, "I'm the one who's about to get up close and personal with the psyche of Grumm's Reaper. All you have to do is take it down after I find it for you."

"Sounds easy as one, two, three, when you put it that way."

"Exactly. Only it would just go up to two. I locate, you capture. So really, easy as one, two."

"Sure, Bridge. Sure."


	10. Chapter 10 - Easy as One

Cold ripples of fear ran like shivers up and down Bridge's spine. He hadn't let himself think about it, had refused to let the fear in, but now there was no time left. He had not forgotten the last time the Reaper had gotten in his head. Nor what had transpired last time he and Callum had combined their powers. But, as he'd told Sky, they had little choice.

"Everybody calm?" he asked, his voice sounding strange and far off to him.

The calmer the Rangers were, the less chaotic their auras would be. They would therefor be that much easier to ignore. This had already been explained to the Rangers, and they had done their level best to clear their minds, but it was hard, knowing what was coming, knowing that they had to be ready.

"As we'll ever be," Sky replied.

Callum pulled off his right-hand glove. Bridge turned his head fractionally and hesitantly took hold of the Velcro holding strap on his left glove and pulled it off. He closed his eyes briefly, and behind his eyes there flashed all the unfortunate possibilities. Everything that could possibly go wrong.

"Bridge," he opened his eyes and looked at Callum, who had spoken, "You can do this. Don't freak yourself out thinking, just take your glove off and do it."

Bridge obeyed and pulled the glove off. He instantly sensed wave after wave of wavering levels of uncertainty, worry, fear. The Rangers were definitely not calm. Instinctively, his eyes found the most chaotic aura of them all, which belonged to Sky. His face was schooled to be expressionless, even his eyes, normally such clear windows to his soul, hid behind a mask of calm. But inside he was far from calm, far from okay. Bridge bit his bottom lip and took off his other glove, exposing his still healing hand to the energy currents of the real world.

He couldn't think about it. _Don't think, just do._ He took Callum's proffered hand and the world flashed momentarily, suddenly everything was vibrating with color, rivers and currents of energy of a thousand nameless shades of light.

"Holy-!" Z broke off before finishing, flinching away from a snake of green light twisting past her.

"Keep it together," Sky's level voice seemed to float from nowhere.

"Is this what Bridge sees all the time?" Syd wanted to know.

"Probably," Sky replied quietly.

"Why can we see it now?" Syd asked.

"Because of me," Callum explained, "Not only can he sense more, he can show you a fraction of what he's looking at. Haven't you ever wondered why his name is Bridge?"

"Huh?" Syd was baffled.

"A Bridge is a connecting element between two places, activities, or elements. He's a conduit."

"To what?" Syd asked.

"Anything he wants," Callum told her, "Bridge is more powerful than all of us combined. Haven't you ever wondered why he can't control his powers, where the rest of us can?"

"But you wear gloves too," Sky pointed out.

"That's only a precaution. In case I lose my head," Callum said, then turned to Bridge, "You ready?"

"I've got it," Bridge whispered distantly, "This way."

Stiffly, he set off across the debris, his eyes locked on some distant thing the others couldn't see. Callum fell in half a pace behind him, still holding Bridge's left hand with his right, and the others followed.

Colors they had never before even imagined swirled about them, some parting as they approached, only to return to their course once they'd passed by, while others flowed right through them. Seeing them, they realized that they could actually feel it happening. Did they always feel it, and just never notice? Or was it a by-product of whatever Bridge was doing?

They were for the first time given true insight into Callum's powers as well. He wasn't, as they had believed previously, merely transferring energy from himself to Bridge. He was also pulling from the surrounding energy fields, as was evidenced by the streams of light which seemed to follow him about and occasionally envelope him, only to disappear or disperse a moment later. Like the Reaper, Callum was controlling the energy around him.

The Rangers didn't speak as they traveled, and did their best to contain their curiosity, their awe, and their instinctive fear of the great unknown. As Callum had said, Bridge was a conduit, and they were now bearing witness to a world within their own, one they were ill-equipped to understand and had never been meant to see.

For Bridge, things were much more intense. The flowing energy currents seemed to beat at him, trying to drive him back, as though warning him that he was attempting too much. The world had turned to a red haze as he locked in on the Reaper, and suddenly it all seemed menacing.

He could feel that he was getting lost in it, being swallowed up. Maybe he was meant for this, but he wasn't ready for it yet. He could barely remember why he was in this storm of energy, and he wanted to just stop, to make it all stop. He could feel Callum's hand, and through it sense the resolve of the Black Ranger, and that was what kept him going. It was his tie to his world versus the Reaper's. His life line.

More than once, he stumbled and nearly fell, but at those times Callum helped him. The other Rangers didn't see this, half blinded by the energy currents churning around them.

"_No wonder Bridge wears gloves to keep all this out,"_ Sky thought.

He was beginning to get a headache and felt slightly nauseous. Noticing that Syd was drifting away, he caught her by the elbow to keep from losing her completely. At this rate, they wouldn't be in any shape to fight even if Bridge did find the Reaper. He couldn't begin to imagine what Bridge must be feeling. And seeing.

Suddenly Bridge halted.

"In that building up ahead," he breathed.

The Rangers heard the strangeness in his voice, but it was only Sky who realized at once what it meant. Abruptly, Bridge pulled away from Callum and turned, reaching for his weapon with his free hand. Callum stumbled back, calling out Bridge's name as they lost contact.

The alien lights and energies faded from the Rangers' view, and the world was solid again. It took them a second to adjust after having spent so much time in the fog of auras. That is, all of them except Sky, who had known from the start what he had to do, and had never once taken his eyes off Bridge.

He launched himself at the other Ranger, and they both fell before Bridge had a chance to draw his weapon. The other Rangers were stricken by confusion, and did not immediately act. The few seconds it took them to absorb what was happening was all Sky needed.

"Sky, stop it! You're killing him!" Syd cried out, the first to find their voice.

Sky had caught Bridge in a choke hold, and was waiting for the other's violent struggles to subside. Bridge had caught him in the ribs with a well-placed elbow, and was now lying on top of him, preventing Sky from getting a much needed breath. It was a matter of who lost consciousness first.

At last, Bridge went limp and Sky let him go. He rolled over and got up on his knees, coughing and gasping. Syd fell beside Bridge and checked the latter's neck for a pulse.

"He's still alive," she said, looking angrily at Sky.

"I had to," Sky said breathlessly, though it didn't sound a bit defensive, "Come on, we still have a Reaper to deal with. Reese, you with us?"

"I've got a little juice left," Callum replied softly, avoiding looking at Bridge on the ground.

"Hope it's enough, because this is the only shot we have," Sky said.

He tried to get to his feet, but dizziness almost drove him back to the ground. Callum caught him by the arm and held him upright until his head cleared.

"You did what you had to," Callum told him quietly, "Let's make sure it wasn't for nothing."

"What about Bridge?" Syd asked, "We can't just leave him here."

"No choice," Sky told her shortly, "We'll come back for him. Let's go."

He looked at each of his fellow Rangers for a moment before leading the way, forcing himself not to cast a backward glance at Bridge, lying helpless on the ground. He wasn't sure if he'd badly hurt his friend or not. For half a second, he had actually been trying to kill Bridge. That half second would haunt him to the end of his days.

The Rangers powered up and then entered the building through the big double front doors and found themselves in an unlit, internally unfinished structure. Their footsteps on the concrete flooring echoed through the dimness and it seemed to Blue that it wouldn't be at all surprising if a bunch of startled bats flew down at them. But that didn't happen. Worse, as they proceeded into the dark, Blue began to take note of thin smoke curling around his boots, foretelling of the thing which awaited them in the blackness.

A throaty snarl halted him in his tracks. The rest of the team responded to this, halting at once. Pink and Black each dropped to one knee and pulled out their firearms, Yellow turned away from them to cover the rear. Blue drew his own weapon slowly.

He knew that sound. It belonged to the Reaper's hound, the one they'd destroyed. But it figured. The Reaper could make more than one blade, surely more than one beast was not out of the question. A yowl from the opposite side of the room sent warning that there was more than one such creature.

"Our main objective is to locate and subdue the Reaper. Reese, you're with me. Z, Syd, you cover us. If you see anything red and glowing, aim for it and shoot. Remember, you're firing modified water. That's different from an energy blast."

"Got it," Pink spoke for all of them.

Blue didn't feel reassured, but he started forward anyway, looking out for trouble ahead as best he could. He wished he could turn on a flashlight, but that would serve only to give away their position, and would likely do them no good, given the thickness of the smoke around them.

A living shadow swept towards them, a vicious yowl erupting from its throat as it took flight, lunging at Blue's back. Yellow saw it coming, raised her weapon and fired. The beast fell back with a wail, but it wasn't dead. Rolling to its feet, it prowled forward, forcing Yellow to hold back and deal with it while the others continued the few paces to the middle of the room. Pink was similarly engaged at this point, leaving just Blue and Black, who were halted by an ominous hissing up ahead.

The flash of a blue-white light was their first warning, the high-pitched whistle of something flying through the air at high speeds was their last. They cut in opposite directions as a pair of silver blades spun through the air and impaled the ground just beyond where they'd been standing.

They fired blind in the general direction the blades had come from. They ceased fire, listening intently for sounds of distress or movement. All that came from the darkness was a soft rustling, and another flash of light. Something large leaped down from a height and lumbered towards where Black was crouching in the darkness. Blue knew Black was there somewhere, but couldn't see him and dared not fire upon the unknown thing which was creeping through the smoke lest he miss and hit his ally instead.

There was a blast from Black's direction and Blue felt something splash against his uniform, presumably the spray from the modified water gun. An inhuman, eerily otherworldly shriek followed, along with sounds of a struggle. Behind, there came a pained wail and the brilliance of a flash explosion, telling that either Yellow or Pink had dispatched their adversary.

Blue Ranger continued towards the source of these smokey-phantoms, weapon drawn as he inched his way along in the darkness, alert for any sound or sight which might warn him of imminent danger. A roar to his right distracted him for a second and he turned his head to see an explosion as Black did away with the creature which had come after him.

Black Ranger fell in beside him like a silent phantom as another flash of light warned of an oncoming threat. They ducked down and opened fire. Something brushed past them, to be engaged by Yellow, who had been catching up with them, but it seemed she would be detained.

Ghoulish laughter came from up ahead as the two Rangers rose as one. A sickly, cold glow grew out of the smoke, revealing Grumm's Reaper, standing with arms spread and skeletal hands open. The glow seemed to be caused by the Reaper, but did not appear to emanate from within it, but instead was cast about it, turning the black smoke a deceptive and hideous white.

"We meet again," The Reaper hissed.

"Yeah," Black Ranger retorted, "But this time we're prepared."

"Are you?" this question was accompanied by the intensified glowing of the orb at the center of the Reaper's hand, this one faster than any of the others.

The object that flew from it came so fast that Black had no time to dodge. The blade hit him in the chest with tremendous force, and he fell silently. Blue Ranger opened fire on the Reaper. His aim was perfect, striking the Reaper in the face and neck multiple times. But the Reaper continued to stand, impervious, impassive, and seemingly indestructible.

Blue Ranger ceased fire and looked down at Black. Red blood gushed around the blade, which had twisted in flight, driving its way home, digging in deep. Black Ranger was wheezing, choking on his own blood, his body shaking with tremors. Blue looked helplessly at the Reaper, who stood like a statue, gazing out of pitiless black eyes at the Ranger who still dared stand before it.

"I am Death itself!" the ghoul shrieked, "You have no power when you stand before me! You will all die! Come, Blue Ranger! Come and face me! Die with your hero's pride intact!"


	11. Chapter 11 - Black Ranger

It was hard to believe that all the working, all the practicing, all the training, should come down to a single moment when a plan inevitably failed and everything went wrong. And yet, time and again, the moment came when there was no time to think, only to react.

Blue Ranger had no time to recall that he had once faced Grumm's Reaper and failed. He had no time to remember that three Rangers together had been unable to take down this one alien. There was no time to think on the futility of it, to regret past mistakes, or wonder what might happen next.

There was only this instant, only Blue and the Reaper, facing each other for the last time. They both knew it. The time for words, for threats and orders, had come and gone. Blue came at the Reaper on instinct, years of training acting as his lone defense. He had no weapons with which to fight.

Thin slivers of silver flew past him as he came forward, dodging each with precision born of long years in training, hours upon endless hours of practice, and enough experience to employ the two effectively. He struck out, missing as the Reaper glided effortlessly to the side.

Between its hands, there formed a ball of smoke, as it began to build something of substance from the energy which surrounded it. Blue turned towards it, grabbing one of the Reaper's wrists with a hand and yanking it roughly towards his body, simultaneously bringing up his knee for a strike at where, were it human, the Reaper's ribs ought to be.

Thick folds of heavy cloth deflected the blow, and the Reaper caught him by the shoulder with its free hand. The boney talon-like hand closed on his left shoulder, building pressure until a crack said that the bones of Blue Ranger were giving way to the bones of the Reaper.

Blue cried out in pain, but did not miss the opportunity to close with the Reaper. Using the Reaper's own grip, as well as his hold on the Reaper's arm, Blue pulled upwards and swung towards the Reaper, wrapping his legs around the hood at the Reaper's shoulders, throwing his weight towards his head, and dragging the Reaper forward, attempting to flip it.

The Reaper staggered and lost its hold on him, which served only to increase the weight dragging it forward. The Reaper toppled, smoke churning up around it, so thick that, without his helmet, Blue would surely have been choking on it. Blue released the Reaper as they tumbled but, even so, he hit the ground hard, and the air rushed out of his lungs for the second time that day.

Where it took him a second to catch his breath, the Reaper recovered and was upright in an instant, its swift movement bringing to mind the sound of enormous wings. The glow it had been generating vanished when it fell, plunging them into utter darkness.

From the darkness there came an orange light, which Blue didn't have time to process. As he flipped to avoid it, he felt heat searing through his suit, and got a good look at it out of the corner of his eye. The Reaper had switched from knives to fireballs.

Blue hit the ground on one knee, but wasted no time rolling to the right, an instinct that served him well, as a second blast hit where he'd landed previously. A moving target is harder to hit. Especially if it is silent. As he moved, he sought to close the gap between himself and the Reaper, hoping to find it before it found him. But such was not to be the case.

The blue-white light of one of the Reaper's hands appeared a bare six inches from his face. A blast of unrefined white energy hit him full force. He flew backwards, his morpher failing as he hit the floor hard enough to bounce off of it, spinning through the air, hitting it again, sailing back into the air, coming to a stop when his lower back hit one of the building's support beams.

Dazed, pain in every inch of his body and blood in his mouth, Sky opened his eyes slowly. He couldn't see in the dark, yet it still felt as though the room was spinning. He tried to take a breath, his lungs cried for oxygen, but agony shot through him and he was barely able to intake a minimum of air before he was forced to cough, his body involuntarily contracting as the action sent spasms of intense pain to all corners of his being.

The whole fight, beginning when Black Ranger fell and ending here, had taken less than a minute. It was over that quickly. Sky had expected as much. His best simply wasn't good enough. Of course, he knew that. Why else would Jack have initially picked Callum over him to lead the Rangers? Why else would Cruger have picked Jack to be the Red Ranger instead of Sky?

Dully, he saw a blurry glow forming a few feet away, as the Reaper prepared to deliver a killing blow. But that blow never came. Seemingly from nowhere, a Ranger came at the side of the Reaper's head, aiming high, delivering a heavy blow with a well-placed knee. The light spun wildly like a dropped flashlight, and then winked out.

Painfully, Sky struggled upright. Using the beam for support, he managed a sitting position. Coughing, spitting blood out of his mouth, he still managed to find his flashlight and turn it on. The smoke was thinning as the Reaper was forced to concentrate its energies on the battle. Through blurred vision, Sky managed to locate Black Ranger, still prone on the ground. Distantly, he saw darting colors, yellow and pink, as Yellow Ranger and Pink Ranger continued to do battle with the smoke creatures.

Who then was left?

Between himself and the Reaper, which was slithering back and forth, looking more for a way to get at him than to fight its current opponent, stood Bridge. Sky could tell at once that there was something off about his stance. It was too much like the Reaper's itself.

As he had years before, Bridge had absorbed the energy of that which he sought, which seemingly transformed him into the very thing he was after. But it was clear he was not entirely of the Reaper, or else he would not have come to Sky's defense. He was struggling with his own identity, but his present mindset was still very much the Reaper.

That would make him closer to the Reaper's equal, but it still wouldn't give Sky much time. Time to do what? He couldn't even stand. He had no way of defeating the Reaper. Not without Callum. Callum... he turned his head. The Black Ranger was still morphed. He was still alive.

Using his good arm, Sky crawled over to where Black Ranger lay.

"Reese," he touched a hand to the Black Ranger's shoulder and shook it gently, "Callum."

"Sky..." Black Ranger spoke the name slowly, with effort, "you... need... to... to..."

"Shh, don't talk. You don't look too good. Save your breath. We'll get you out."

"No," came the quiet reply, punctuated by a liquidy cough, "You... get... out."

"What do you mean? Callum?"

Black Ranger made a pained sound, and explained himself, choking between words.

"I'm... already... done for. But... I... can... still do... my job," he wheezed, then, "Power down."

"Callum, no. I won't sacrifice you. Certainly not like this."

"I'm dying...already. Let me die... in this way..."

Sky closed his eyes, took a breath.

"Alright," Sky whispered, then shouted as best he could, "SPD Rangers! Fall back! Fall back now! That's an order. Get out of the building! NOW!" he lowered his voice to address Callum, "You do what you have to. Don't wait for us. We can take care of ourselves. But the Reaper doesn't make it out of this building. You hear me? Grumm's Reaper stops here."

"Understood..."

Smoke twisted and swirled around Callum as Sky struggled to get to his feet, using a nearby building support. Callum, lying on his back, placed the palms of both hands on the ground, and snaps of blue electricity sprang forth, running across the floor, bouncing back time and again. The air hummed with electricity, and crackled as the energy built.

Leaning heavily on the building support, Sky was fully aware that he'd never make it out on his own. Yellow and Pink had no way of knowing that. They'd be outside already, and he prayed they wouldn't try to come back for him.

Suddenly, there was someone at his side, throwing his arm over their shoulder and yanking him away from the support. He looked sidelong at Bridge, who still didn't look like himself. Bridge seemed to be running on a kind of autopilot while his mind fought over the conflicting auras in his head. Like Sky earlier, he was acting on years of training, cemented by a direct order.

Sky tried to keep pace with Bridge, but staggered and fell. Without pause, Bridge knelt down and hefted Sky's body across his shoulders, holding him by the wrist and a knee, carrying him like a sack of potatoes. Behind them came sound of an explosion, and they were buffeted by the wind and debris which were the fallout. This was followed by a roaring fire, which threatened to overtake them.

As they reached the door, Yellow and Pink appeared, having chosen to come back and look for Sky. They fell in with Bridge and the Rangers fled the building. A secondary explosion knocked them flat. They rolled approximately fifteen feet, where they lay still, gazing back at the blue flame which had enveloped the entire building. Even from here, they could hear the shrieking wails of the dying Reaper, which slowly faded away, overtaken by the crackling of the searing, all consuming energy fire.

"Reese?" Yellow asked breathlessly.

Sky couldn't find his voice, and just shook his head.

* * *

The Rangers had reported to Cruger that the threat of Grumm's Reaper had been eliminated, but at a terrible cost. Black Ranger, Callum Reese, had given his life to insure that the Rangers survived, and continued to protect Earth from Grumm, and those like him.

Sky suffered several broken ribs, along with a broken shoulder, mild concussion and dislocated hip, not to mention bruises and sprains in places he hadn't previously known could be sprained. But he would recover, and it wouldn't take too long, either.

Z and Syd were fine, physically, which seemed to make them feel emotionally wounded. That they had escaped without injury while Callum had died, Sky had been smashed to pieces and Bridge, well...

Jack never did get to explain to Sky what had happened with Black Ranger being picked to lead B-Squad. It no longer seemed to matter. It was about getting the job done, not playing favorites. Sky understood that as well as anyone.

As for Bridge, it took time, but he did eventually manage to sort himself out from the remnants of Grumm's Reaper. Though he would always bear the scars inside, he was able to return to active duty and his normally abnormal self.

A funeral was held for the fallen Black Ranger. In life, he had used a wall of arrogance and general disdain for all of humanity to protect himself from harm. He had made more enemies than friends over the course of that short, violent life, spending so much time pushing people away that sometimes they wondered why he was working for SPD instead of the other side. But, in the end, he had given his all for the world that he loved, and the Rangers he had come to believe could save it.

The Rangers of B-Squad remained even after the funeral, standing solemnly beside the empty grave. When the blaze finally died down, there hadn't been anything left, just traces enough that scans confirmed both The Reaper and Callum had died there, but not enough to bury.

One by one, they saluted their fallen comrade, whom they considered a true member of B-Squad. He had more than earned his place among them.

"I'm sorry you never got to be on A-Squad," Jack whispered, kneeling down to place a flower on the grave, then standing up, "But if it helps any, you were a great member of B-Squad," he saluted, and stepped back, letting Sky take his place.

"Well, Reese, looks like the world is safe for another day, thanks to you," words didn't come easy to him, so he left it at that, saluted, and made room for Bridge.

Bridge knelt down, and put a hand softly on the freshly turned Earth, laying a flower on the growing pile there. He sat back, but said nothing for a long, long time. It seemed that there was nothing to say, and he wasn't going to try and say it. But finally, he did say something.

"Thank you," he stood, saluted, and stepped back.

Z and Syd said what they wanted to say, and then the five Rangers of SPD B-Squad walked away.

This single battle had cost them dearly, but they did not think the price paid had been too high. They would not sully their friend's memory by saying he should never have sacrificed himself. It had been his choice to do so, and who were they to say it shouldn't have happened, or that it was wrong? Truly, they wished that he'd never had to do what he did, but they knew in their hearts that this was the way things were.

They spent most of their time denying it, but they had all agreed to pay the ultimate price for Earth. It was a promise they reaffirmed every single morning when they put on the uniform. Each time they followed an order, and every time they went into battle, they gave their word that they would not give up until the fight was over, that they would stand to the last man to ensure that Earth was always safe.

This was what Callum had lived for. And what he had died to protect.

This was what it was to be SPD.

* * *

_A/N: So there you have it. Hope you enjoyed it, thank you kindly for reading and reviewing. See you next time._


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